NEWFOUND 
RIVER 


THOMAS 

NELSON 

PAGE 


"PS 


hoc 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 


Margaret  looked  as  if  she  had  stepped  out  of  the  old  picture. 
[PAGE  278] 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 


BY 

THOMAS  NELSON  PAGE 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 
1906 


Copyright,  1891, 1906,  by 
CHARLES  SCEIBNEK'S  SONS 


All  Rights  Reserved 


TO  THE  DEAR  MEMORY 

OF 
ANNE  BRUCE  PAGE 


PBEFACE 

THE  reader  will,  perhaps,  bear  in  mind  that 
"On  Newfound  River"  does  not  pretend  to  be 
a  Novel;  but  is  on  its  face  a  "Story,"— a  Love- 
Story  if  you  will — of  simple  Country  Life  in  Old 
Virginia.  The  "setting"  is  wholly  that  of  the 
Country,  the  surroundings  are  all  those  of  a  life 
far  from  cities,  the  incidents  are,  for  the  most 
part,  those  little  commonplace  events  which 
might  have  taken  place  in  a  rural  neighborhood 
before  the  war,  where  the  gentry  ruled  in  a  sort 
of  manorial  manner  and  their  poorer  neighbors 
bore  a  relation  to  them  part  retainer,  part 
friend. 

In  preparing  a  new  edition  for  the  press,  the 
author  has  enlarged  the  work  by  certain  addi- 
tions to  the  Story,  with  a  view  to  making  it 


PREFACE 

more  complete  and  giving  a  somewhat  fuller 
reflection  of  the  life  it  undertakes  to  mirror, 
somewhat  as  he  did  before  with  ' '  The  Old  Gen- 
tleman of  the  Black  Stock."  But  no  attempt 
has  been  made  to  change  it  into  a  Novel,  or  even 
to  enlarge  it  beyond  its  original  scope.  It  was 
written  as  a  Love-Story  and  a  Love-Story,  pure 
and  simple,  it  is. 

T.  N.  P. 

OAKLAND,  Hanover  County, 
Virginia,  1906. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

From  Drawings  by  John  Edwin  Jackson 

MARGARET  LOOKED  AS  IF  SHE  HAD  STEPPED  OUT  OF  THE 

OLD  PICTURE Frontiipiece 

FACING  PAGE 

"  YOU  ARE  SEVERAL  YEARS  BEHIND  YOUR  TIME."  SHE  SAID 

CALMLY 95 

"WHAT  A  PITY  WE  CANNOT  ALWAYS  HAVE  THE  THORNS 

CUT  FROM  AMONG  THE  FLOWERS  FOR  US" 167 

HE   WAS    EMBARRASSED    BY    FINDING    HER  SO  DIFFERENT 

FROM  WHAT  HE  EXPECTED  .    204 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIYER 


NEWFOUND  EIVEE,  or,  as  it  is  called  by 
the  denizens  of  that  section  of  Virginia 
through  which  it  glides,  1 '  Newfound, ' '  steals 
through  two  or  three  counties  of  Eastern  Vir- 
ginia in  such  a  leisurely,  unobtrusive  fashion 
that  it  was  not  supposed  by  the  early  settlers  to 
be  different  from  the  numerous  "branches" 
which  are  found  between  the  undulations,  there 
considered  hills,  until  it  was  discovered  that  it 
stretched  for  fifty  miles  in  an  almost  direct  line. 
It  thereupon  received  its  baptismal  name,  which 
was,  after  a  little  time,  abbreviated  into  ' '  New- 
found, ' '  by  which  appellation  it  is,  in  the  phrase 
of  the  law,  still  called  and  known. 

"War  and  its  effects  have  wrought  a  sorrowful 
change  in  the  old  county,  as  in  other  sections  of 
the  State.  It  lay  right  in  the  track  of  the  armies, 
and  the  civilization  which  existed  there  in  the 

3 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

old  days  before  the  war  has  perished  almost  as 
utterly  as  that  of  Nineveh  or  of  Karnak.  But  at 
the  time  when  the  events  herein  related  occurred, 
the  country  on  Newfound  was  one  of  the  old 
"neighborhoods"  of  the  State.  It  was  as  retired 
and  as  quiet  as  one  of  the  coves  of  Newfound 
Millpond  where  the  waterlilies  slept  in  a  repose 
undisturbed  by  the  outside  current.  Into  this 
quiet  life  little  excitement  ever  came  from  the 
outer  world  with  which  the  chief  connecting  link 
was  the  sleepy  mailrider  who  passed  up  the 
main  road  twice  a  week  dropping  his  papers  at 
the  "big-gates"  which  were  the  outward  signs 
of  the  plantations  that  lay  secluded  beyond  the 
screening  woods  and  leaving  his  letters  at  the 
Crossroads  post-office.  The  excitement  of  that 
life  was  all  supplied  by  the  inhabitants  them- 
selves. Politics  there  meant  how  this  or  that  or 
the  other  man  cast  his  vote ;  Teligion  was  gauged 
by  the  spiritual  experiences  and  conduct  of  this 
or  that  member,  and  civilization  itself  was 
weighed  and  tested  by  the  life  lived  on  the  plan- 
tations. But  even  the  events  in  their  lives  did 
not  usually  stir  those  denizens  more  than  the 
breezes  stirred  the  lily  pads  which,  though 
moved  a  little  on  the  surface,  being  anchored 
to  the  soil  soon  settled  back  in  their  accustomed 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

places.  The  Landons  and  others  of  their  kind 
ruled  unquestioned  in  a  sort  of  untitled 
manorial  system ;  their  poor  neighbors  stood  in 
a  peculiar  relation  to  them,  part  friend,  part 
retainer,  the  line  between  independence  and 
vassalage  being  impalpable;  and  peace  and 
plenty  reigned  over  a  smiling  land. 

The  value  of  a  plantation  in  those  old  times 
was  largely  determined  by  the  amount  of  "  bot- 
tom-land "  on  it,  the  uplands  being  poor,  or,  at 
least,  having  been  worked  out. 

The  finest "  bottom  "  on  Newfound  was  that  at 
Landon  Hall,  which  was,  indeed,  the  only  one 
distinguished  by  the  more  dignified  name  of 
'  *  low  ground. ' '  Year  in  and  year  out  it  brought 
corn  so  "rank"  that,  in  the  picturesque  lan- 
guage of  the  negroes, i '  you  just  could  follow  the 
balk,"  by  which  was  meant  that  one  could  just 
detect  or  follow  with  the  eye  the  spaces  between 
the  rows. 

Perhaps,  it  was  this  perennial  abundance  of 
the  harvest  which  gave  the  Landons  their  pres- 
tige in  the  county  quite  as  much  as  the  fact  that 
they  held  their  lands  under  the  same  grant  which 
had  been  issued  by  Charles  II  to  the  first  of  the 
name  who  had  crossed  the  seas. 

Father  and  son,  for  six  generations  they  had 
5 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

held  it,  and  it  was  their  boast  that  in  all  this 
period  they  had  lost  but  one  field. 

This  was  the  tract  of  a  hundred  acres  or  so  of 
arable  land,  and  a  little  more  of  marsh,  beyond 
Newfound,  which  the  fourth  Landon  had  in  very 
exuberance  of  recklessness  lost  one  night  at 
cards  to  a  neighbor  by  the  name  of  Bland.  That 
side  of  Newfound  was  swampy,  at  best,  from 
the  backwater  of  the  Landon  mill-pond,  and  the 
tract  was  chiefly  valuable  because  on  it  stood  the 
quaint  old  gray  frame-dwelling  with  its  dormer 
windows  and  hipped  roof,  which  the  first  Lan- 
don had  built  and  named  "Landon  Hill,"  and  in 
which  they  had  lived  until  they  erected  the  im- 
posing mansion  on  the  eminence  on  the  other 
side  of  the  stream,  which  they  called  "Landon 
Hall."  His  friend  had  badgered  him  to  bet  the 
land,  and  he  had  done  so  and  lost.  He  offered 
to  redeem  it  at  twice  its  value ;  but  the  proposal 
was  rejected.  The  friends  became  bitter  ene- 
mies, and  a  duel  had  in  time  followed  in  which 
Landon  had  shot  his  adversary. 

This,  however,  after  the  manner  of  most  duels, 
had  not  remedied  the  matter. 

It  was  found  that  the  owner  had  the  night  be- 
fore, with  malignant  prevision,  executed  a  will 
leaving  the  land  entailed  as  far  as  possible,  and 

6 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

with  conditions  which  effectually  prevented  it 
again  passing  into  the  hands  of  a  Landon  for  at 
least  several  generations. 

From  this  time  the  old  place  was  Naboth's 
vineyard  to  the  Landons.  The  house,  peaked 
and  gray  with  age,  stood  on  a  rise  across  the  low 
grounds  and  the  river  immediately  in  front  of 
the  lofty  hill  on  which  rose  the  Landons'  com- 
manding mansion.  It  was  so  situated  that  it 
could  not  be  shut  out  of  the  landscape.  It  was 
the  one  place  in  sight  from  that  eminence  which 
did  not  belong  to  the  Landons,  and  it  had  been 
the  cradle  of  the  race :  of  a  race  which  prided  it- 
self on  being  an  older  branch  than  that  which 
remained  in  England,  and  on  having  brought  its 
landholding  instincts  across  the  water. 

No  wonder  the  Landons  chafed  and  fretted 
over  its  loss. 

The  son  of  the  one  who  threw  away  the  old 
home  retrieved  the  impaired  fortunes  of  the 
family  by  marrying  an  heiress,  and  the  Landons 
became  wealthier  than  ever.  Large  offers  were 
made  to  the  owner  of  the  old  place  to  repurchase 
it ;  but  the  will  of  Bland,  the  duellist,  effectually 
prevented  its  recovery,  and  Colonel  Landon 
compensated  himself  and  his  wife  by  adding  to 
the  estate  on  the  other  side,  and  rebuilding  Lan- 

7 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

don  Hall  in  magnificent  style.  The  limitation 
did  not  expire  for  two  generations,  and  Colonel 
Landon  left  in  his  will  a  provision  inculcating 
the  necessity  of  securing  the  lost  tract  as  soon 
as  it  was  possible  to  do  so.  The  colonel's  son, 
who  was  Major  Landon,  on  coming  into  the 
estate  endeavored  faithfully  to  fulfil  his  father 's 
behest,  and  watched  eagerly  for  the  death  of  the 
old  woman  with  whose  life  the  limitations  on  the 
lost  land  expired.  She  lived  in  the  far  south,  and 
the  place  for  several  years  was  unoccupied 
and  neglected,  the  fences  going  down,  the 
old,  quaint,  frame-house  falling  into  disrepair, 
and  the  fields  growing  up  in  sassafras  and  pine 
until  the  entire  farm  became  little  better  than  a 
wilderness.  As  soon  as  Major  Landon  heard  of 
her  death  he  despatched  an  agent  to  the  south  to 
secure  from  the  heir  the  option  to  purchase ;  but 
to  his  mortification  and  chagrin  he  found  that 
the  property  had  the  day  before  he  applied  for 
it  been  sold.  He  immediately  wrote  and  offered 
the  purchaser,  an  old  navy  surgeon,  one  Dr. 
Browne,  a  handsome  advance  on  his  price ;  but  it 
was  declined  on  the  ground  that  the  doctor  had 
bought  it  for  a  home  and  would  not  sell  it  at  any 
figure  whatsoever. 

This  almost  threw  the  Major  into  a  fever.  To 
8 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

be  balked  of  what  he  had  been  reared  to  look  for- 
ward to  was  like  being  defrauded  of  a  part  of 
his  inheritance. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  old  doctor  arrived  with 
his  family,  which  consisted  of  a  little  grand- 
daughter and  two  old  negroes,  one  of  whom  was 
his  body-servant,  and  the  other  the  child's  mam- 
my. 

Major  Landon,  after  the  custom  of  the  coun- 
try, called  formally  on  the  new  neighbor;  but 
he  was  not  received,  and  it  soon  became  known 
that  the  newcomer  was  not  at  home  to  visitors 
and  wished  to  be  let  alone.  This  was  as  open  a 
violation  of  the  custom  on  Newfound  as  if  the 
new  settler  had  waylaid  his  neighbor  from  be- 
hind a  fence,  and  from  that  time  the  aversion  of 
the  Major,  and  the  suspicion  of  the  rest  of  the 
community  fell  upon  the  new  residents. 

Stories  soon  began  to  be  told  of  them  and 
their  "strange  doinV:  of  how  the  old  doctor 
used  to  prowl  around  the  country  at  night, 
though  he  would  not  stir  from  his  place  by  day— 
or  at  least,  would  not  go  on  "the  main,  plain 
road" ;  but  always  stuck  to  by-paths ;  of  how  the 
two  negroes  were  not  like  other  black-folks,  but 
talked  sometimes  a  strange  jargon  and  were  in 
fact,  "free  niggers ";  and  of  how  a  strange  man 

9 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

in  black,  used  to  come  from  town  to  have  church 
with  them  in  some  sort  of  a  papist  fashion.  To 
be  sure  there  were  those  who  said  that  the  old 
man  was  a  mighty  good  doctor  and  though  he 
did  not  practise  generally,  was  always  ready 
to  go  to  a  poor  man's  family  and  what  was  more, 
never  made  any  charge  for  it;  and  as  to  the 
negroes,  their  talk  was  only  a  French  patois  and 
the  man  in  black  who  came  was  only  a  Catholic 
priest  from  the  City  forty  miles  away.  Still 
there  was  nothing  so  remarkable  as  for  a  man 
to  differ  so  much  from  his  neighbors  as  to  shut 
himself  up.  To  refuse  all  hospitality  he  must 
have  something  wrong  about  him.  This  was  a 
proposition  which  could  not  be  questioned.  In 
time  a  word  was  whispered  about  concerning 
him  which  could  only  be  whispered:  "Aboli- 
tionist. ' ' 
Still  there  was  no  proof. 


10 


II 


THEY  were  an  austere  people,  the  Landons, 
reaping  where  they  had  not  sown,  and 
gathering  where  they  had  not  strewn.  Tall, 
straight,  keen-eyed,  aquiline  they  grew,  father 
and  son,  for  generation  after  generation,  as  dis- 
tinct from  their  plain  neighbors  on  Newfound 
as  a  Lombardy  poplar  is  from  the  common  pine. 
The  Major  was  the  austerest  of  the  race.  He 
reigned  supreme  on  Newfound:  a  benevolent 
tyrant  with  a  tongue  of  flarne,  tempered  happily 
by  a  heart  really  kind  at  the  core  and  easily 
touched.  His  temper  was  explosive ;  but  rarely 
lasted  longer  than  the  first  outburst  and  this 
was  generally  followed  by  a  period  of  calm  and 
kindness. 

It  was  an  accepted  fact  on  Newfound  that 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  gave  way  to  the 
Major  except  Bruce.  Bruce  was  his  only  son. 
and  the  prospective  heir  to  the  Landon  Hall 
plantation,  with  its  four  thousand  acres  and  its 
five  hundred  negroes. 

As  Bruce  sprang  up  tall  and  slim,  yet  straight, 
11 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

muscular  and  active,  the  resemblance  between 
him  and  the  Major,  "the  Landon  favor,"  as  it 
was  called,  was  marked.  There  was  in  both  the 
same  finely  cut  face  and  clean  figure,  the  same 
deep-set,  clear  gray  eyes  under  strong  brows, 
the  slightly  aquiline  nose,  the  wide  mouth  full  of 
fine  teeth,  and  the  firm  chin  and  jaw,  but  more 
than  this,  was  the  resemblance  in  character.  The 
same  spirit  discovered  itself  in  each :  an  indom- 
itable resolution  to  carry  out  his  will  which 
showed  itself  in  every  line  of  the  face  and  every 
fibre  of  the  frame.  The  Major  was  stern  and 
imperative;  the  boy  was  resolute  and  defiant. 
'  '  That  boy  is  so  like  me  sometimes  that  it  fright- 
ens me,"  said  the  Major  once  to  his  wife,  of 
whom  happily,  there  was  also  something  in  her 
son.  One  of  the  servants  expressed  it  once  by 
the  saying,  "De  chip  don'  fly  fur  from  de 
stump."  In  truth,  Bruce  Landon  was  as  like 
his  father  as  it  was  possible  to  be,  and  this  like- 
ness did  not  stop  at  mere  physical  resemblance. 
"He  has  the  Landon  bull-dog  in  him,"  said 
the  Major,  proudly;  "he  will  not  give  up  unless 
you  kill  him."  If  Mrs.  Landon  sighed  over  this 
particular  tribute  of  praise,  it  was  because  she 
knew  how  the  Landon  obstinacy  had  too  often 
brought  sorrow  to  the  Landons. 

12 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Once  when  Bruce  was  being  thrashed  for 
going  fishing  in  disobedience  to  orders,  he  faced 
the  Major,  and  looking  him  straight  in  the  eyes 
said  doggedly, ' '  You  'd  better  give  me  two  now ; 
for  I  'm  going  again. "  To  the  credit  of  the 
Major,  it  must  be  said,  that  this  exhibition  of 
the  unconquerable  will  of  the  family  for  that 
time  got  the  boy  off. 

By  the  time  Bruce  was  thirteen  he  was  almost 
as  well  known  on  Newfound  as  his  father.  At 
least  twice  he  had  been  fished  out  of  the  millpond 
unconscious  (once  when  he  was  pulled  out  by 
Dick  Runaway,  and  once  when  he  had  got  Dick 
out),  besides  any  number  of  times  when  he  had 
fallen  in  and  been  got  out  before  he  reached  that 
state. 

Sam  Mills  considered  him  a  prodigy  and  Sam 
Mills  was  something  of  an  oracle  on  Newfound, 
being  given  to  observing  changes,  whether  in 
men  or  weather.  He  always  spoke  of  his  quali- 
ties as  if  he  had  been  a  young  puppy  and  possi- 
bly the  similitude  was  nearer  in  some  respects 
than  Sam  Mills  meant  to  imply. 

It  was  more  than  rumored  that  Bruce  had 
once  or  twice  met  some  of  the  runaway  negroes 
who  skulked  around  in  the  woods,  and  had 
hunted  with  them.  The  consorting  with  or  hav- 

13 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

ing  anything  to  do  with  this  class  of  miscreants 
was  at  this  time  a  high  offense  socially  as  well 
as  legally.  No  one  but  Bruce  could  have  stood 
this  charge.  Bruce  did  not  deny  it.  He  simply 
claimed  that  Dick  Eunaway,  as  he  was  called, 
was  his  father  7s  negro,  and  no  one  had  anything 
to  do  with  it. 

Dick  was  one  of  Major  Landon's  negroes  and 
so  incorrigible  a  runaway  that  he  was  known 
throughout  the  neighborhood  and  was  by  many 
of  the  neighbors  considered  a  nuisance,  if  not 
a  menace  to  the  good  order  that  prevailed. 
Some  of  Major  Landon's  friends  had  been  in- 
clined to  take  him  to  task  for  his  leniency  in  the 
matter  and  had  urged  on  him  the  duty  of  selling 
him  and  thus  relieving  the  section  of  a  bad 
example  likely  to  spread  and  produce  disastrous 
consequences.  The  Major,  however,  was  not 
willing  to  sell  any  of  his  servants.  He  always 
regarded  it  as  an  act  unbecoming  a  gentleman 
except  under  the  spur  of  extreme  necessity,  and 
he  was  never  given  to  accepting  suggestions  un- 
less they  chimed  in  with  his  own  views. 

Dick  was  a  big  black  fellow  of  the  pure  South 
African  type,  with  brawny  muscles,  white  teeth, 
a  big  jaw  and  keen  eyes.  The  love  of  liberty 
and  the  spirit  of  the  jungle  still  gripped  him  so 

14 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

fiercely  that  all  steady  work  was  as  irksome  to 
him  as  to  an  unbroken  horse.  Thus,  even  when 
he  was  at  work  he  was  so  inclined  to  shirk  it  that 
he  was  constantly  in  trouble  with  Bailiff,  the 
overseer.  Punishment  appeared  to  have  little 
effect  and  if  he  was  whipped  he  ran  away.  This 
had  in  time  become  almost  a  fixed  habit  with  him 
and  three  or  four  times  every  year  Dick 
was  reported  by  the  overseer  to  be  miss- 
ing. Sometimes,  he  would  be  caught  and 
brought  back  by  those  who  made  it  their 
business  to  apprehend  runaways,— among 
whom  was  a  certain  "Pokeberry  Green, "  whose 
chief  occupation  appeared  to  be  hunting  the 
runaways,— and  sometimes  he  reappeared  of 
his  own  accord  and  took  uncomplainingly  the 
modified  punishment  visited  upon  those  delin- 
quents who  surrendered  themselves  and  thus 
saved  the  cost  of  a  reward.  It  is  possible  that 
Major  Landon's  patience  might  have  given  out 
but  for  an  accident  connected  with  one  of  Dick's 
escapades. 

As  Bruce  grew  to  be  a  bigger  boy  he  first 
shook  off  the  trammels  of  his  Mammy  and  then 
of  the  negro  boy  of  about  his  own  age  who  was 
selected  to  be  his  attendant  and  prepared  to 
hunt  and  fish  alone.  His  luck  certainly 

15 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

appeared  to  be  so  much  better  as  to 
justify  him;  but  the  fact  was  that  Bruce 
had  found  a  new  comrade  more  to  his 
taste.  He  was  down  on  the  river  one  day  fishing 
when  the  bushes  suddenly  parted  behind  him 
and  Dick  made  his  appearance.  He  was  clad 
very  differently  from  the  neat  manner  in  which 
Major  Landon's  servants  were  usually  clad.  An 
old  shirt,  a  pair  of  ragged  trousers  fastened 
at  the  waist  with  a  leather  strap,  and  an  old 
straw  hat  were  all  he  wore  except  a  small  strap 
knotted  tightly  about  his  wrist.  At  first  Bruce 
was  a  little  startled,  for  Dick  was  on  one  of  his 
periodical  escapades.  But  in  a  moment  he  was 
reassured,  and  that  day  was  one  of  the  most 
delightful  in  the  boy's  experience. 

"Dis  aint  no  place  to  fish,"  declared  Dick 
scornfully.  ' '  You  come  with  me  and  I  '11  show 
you  whar  fish  is.  I  done  bait  de  hole." 

Bruce  promptly  rolled  up  his  line  and  fol- 
lowed his  guide,  who  instead  of  following  the 
path  struck  at  once  into  the  swamp,  picking  his 
way,  as  Bruce  observed,  with  wonderful  skill 
through  marshy  places ;  at  times  wading  in  the 
water,  at  times  treading  on  green  hammocks 
till  at  length  he  brought  Bruce  into  the  deepest 

16 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 
recesses  of  the  swamp.  Here,  after  a  little 
careful  creeping  through  the  brake,  they 
came  to  a  small  wooded  island  which  was  swept 
on  one  side  by  the  current  and  on  another 
opened  on  a  little  cove  completely  screened  by 
overhanging  trees,  under  one  of  which  lay  an  old 
skiff.  Close  by  was  Dick's  favorite  lair  which 
he  divulged  to  Bruce  under  a  promise  of  the 
most  absolute  secrecy;  a  sort  of  booth  formed 
of  boughs  and  old  boards.  Here  Dick  was  in 
reasonable  security  as  he  explained, 1 1  even  from 
dat  Pokeberry";  for  his  hounds  could  not  track 
him  there  and  even  should  they  find  him  he  could 
escape  to  the  other  side.  Bruce  expressed  his 
detestation  of  Pokeberry.  "I  'da  kilt  him  long 
ago/'  said  Dick,  "if  I  had  'n  been  feared  dee  'd 
hang  me.  But  some  day  he  's  gwine  to  git 
drowndid. ' ' 

"You  are  not  going  to  drown  him?"  ex- 
claimed the  boy. 

"Not  a  bit;  de  water  gwine  to  do  dat,"  said 
Dick  oracularly.  "I  'm  gwine  to  lead  him  whar 
he  '11  wish  he  had  n't  gone,  dat  's  all,  caze  he 
can't  swim." 

Here,  indeed,  the  fish  bit  as  Bruce  had  never 
known  them  bite  elsewhere.  But  better  even 

17 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

than  that  was  the  sport  of  having  Dick  light  his 
fire  and  cook  a  dinner  of  fresh  fish, ' '  fat  meat, ' ' 
and  corn  hoe-cake. 

Bruce  was  so  much  pleased  with  his  ex- 
perience that  one  day  a  little  later  he  deter- 
mined to  try  his  skill  as  a  runaway  and  visit 
Dick  in  his  island  and  had  gotten  nearly  over  the 
deep  part  when  his  foot  slipped  and  down  he 
went  over  his  head.  Unhappily  his  efforts  car- 
ried him  out  into  deeper  water.  He  went  down 
again  choking  and  strangling  and  the  Landon 
name  might  have  ended  then  and  there  had  not 
Dick  Eunaway  happened  to  be  near  enough  to 
plunge  in  and  pull  him  out. 

Even  then  Bruce  was  so  far  gone  that  Dick 
finding  he  was  so  very  ill  took  him  in  his 
arms  and  braving  whatever  might  befall  himself 
rushed  with  him  for  home.  Fortunately  the 
Major  was  riding  in  the  field  which  Dick  had  to 
cross  and  he  met  the  terrified  negro  with  his 
limp  burden  in  his  arms.  Taking  the  boy  up  on 
his  horse  he  galloped  to  his  home  where  prompt 
remedies  applied  soon  brought  Bruce  around. 
The  boy's  first  inquiries  were  for  Dick,  and  he 
would  not  be  quiet  until  he  had  secured  Dick's 
full  pardon. 

In  fact,  this  act  stood  Dick  in  stead,  not  only 
18 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

for  that  time ;  but  for  all  future  occasions  when 
the  spirit  seized  him  and  he  took  to  the  woods. 
The  Major  was  forced  to  admit  the  overseer's 
charge  that  Dick  was  not  only  a  shirker  himself 
but  set  a  disastrous  example  to  the  rest  of  the 
plantation.  But  as  often  as  he  thought  of  tak- 
ing efficient  steps  to  put  a  stop  to  Dick's  va- 
grancy, the  recollection  of  Bruce 's  white  face  as 
he  lay  limp  and  unconscious  in  Dick's  big  black 
arms  that  day  intervened  to  defer  all  action. 

There  was  only  one  person  with  whom  Bruce 
Landon  was  not  on  good  terms.  This  was  the 
young  man  "Pokeberry  Green"  who  had 
come  to  the  neighborhood  a  few  years  before, 
drifted  from  no  one  knew  where,  though  a 
strong  accent  and  familiarity  with  the  purlieus 
of  a  great  city  led  to  grave  suspicion  of  his  ori- 
gin, which  was  subsequently  verified.  He  had 
more  education  than  most  of  the  denizens  and 
had  evidently  travelled  both  North  and  South. 
He  was  too  lazy  to  engage  in  regular  work,  and 
lived  generally  by  his  wits.  His  only  ostensible 
occupation  was  hunting.  This  he  extended  occa- 
sionally to  hunting  and  now  and  then  capturing 
such  runaway  negroes  as  might  from  time  to 
time,  for  fancied  or  real  grievances,  leave  their 
homes  and  take  to  the  woods.  A  strange  thing 

19 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

was,  that  although,  he  was  known  to  do  this,  he 
had  appeared  on  better  terms  with  the  negroes 
than  with  the  whites. 

Once  or  twice  he  appeared  to  have  large 
amounts  of  money,  which  he  said  had  been  left 
him,  and  which  he  had  gone  off  to  get.  He  soon 
ran  through  them,  however.  At  other  times  he 
used  to  hang  around  the  Crossroads  "grog- 
gery, ' '  drinking  whenever  he  could  get  whiskey. 
He  was  a  heavy,  muscular  fellow,  with  stiff 
black  hair,  a  red  skin,  and  small,  dark,  hard  eyes ; 
a  man  of  whom  one  would  at  once  say  the  moral 
fibres  were  as  coarse  as  a  doormat.  He  was 
much  hated  by  some  of  the  negroes,  and  gener- 
ally detested  by  the  whites ;  but  he  possessed  a 
certain  shrewdness  united  to  a  deal  of  effrontery 
which  made  him  feared  if  not  popular  with  the 
lowest  members  of  the  lowest  class.  He  called 
himself  "Mr.  Green, "  and  a  long,  deep  purple 
mark  on  the  side  of  his  heavy  jaw  and  neck, 
which  might  have  been  a  scar,  but  which  he 
averred  was  a  birthmark,  had  given  him  the 
name  of  "  Pokeberry. ' '  Between  this  man  and 
Bruce  there  was  the  deepest  hatred,  which 
neither  pretended  to  conceal.  Pokeberry  was  a 
born  bully,  and  Bruce  brooked  no  insolence.  On 
one  occasion  when  they  met  at  Jones's  Cross- 

20 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

roads  whither  Bruce  had  gone  to  get  the  semi- 
weekly  mail,  their  dislike  flamed  into  a  collision. 
Pokeberry,  angered  at  some  recent  and  caustic 
criticism  of  Major  Landon's  on  his  suspicious 
mode  of  life,  had  made  some  allusion  to  the 
story  of  the  boy's  meeting  the  runaway  negroes 
and  hunting  with  them.  The  boy  to  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  little  audience  gathered  in  the  lazy 
afternoon  about  the  post-office,  retorted  by  call- 
ing him  a  '  •  nigger-hunter. ' '  A  fierce  quarrel  en- 
sued, and  Bruce  had  got  much  applause  by  sud- 
denly attacking  the  bully  and  felling  him  to  the 
ground  with  a  stick  which  lay  conveniently  at 
hand.  From  this  time  they  were  sworn  enemies. 

As  much  credit,  however,  as  Bruce  gained 
from  these  things,  his  reputation  on  Newfound 
was  based  less  on  them  than  on  his  well-known 
resistance  to  his  father.  He  was  about  the  only 
person  who  dared  to  stand  out  against  the 
major. 

From  this  time  the  boy  began  to  be  counted  as 
a  rising  scion  of  the  Landon  stock ;  for  this  was 
in  the  period  before  the  war  when  courage  and 
readiness  to  fight  were  reckoned  among  the  most 
proper  if  not  the  most  admirable  traits  of  a  man 
and  were  as  much  expected  in  him  as  if  he  had 
been  a  game-cock. 

21 


Ill 


IT  'S  becus  they  's  so  high  sperited,"  a  thin 
dim-looking  fellow  of  about  forty,  dressed 
in  an  old  suit,  of  which  the  coat  was  much  too 
large  for  him,  and  the  trousers  much  too  small, 
explained  drawlingly  one  afternoon  to  a  contem- 
plative group  around  him  at  Jones's  Cross- 
roads, where  the  family  traits  of  the  Landons 
were  being  discussed. 

The  speaker  was  Sam  Mills.  Sam  was  a  great 
friend  of  the  Major's  and  was  an  authority. 

"It  's  becus  they  's  got  so  much  of  the  devil 
in  'em,"  declared  Squire  Johnson,  burning  at 
the  recollection  of  the  scarcely  veiled  contempt 
and  the  sharp-edged  speeches  with  which  the 
major  usually  deigned  to  recognize  his  existence. 
"  Ef  I  ever  git  him  bef  o '  me,  I  'm  gwine  to  show 
him  who  's  th'  majistrit  in  this  district!" 

The  squire  was  a  large,  burly  man,  with  a 
smooth-shaven  red  face,  and  a  heavy  bunch  of 
grizzled  whisker  growing  under  his  large  chin. 

22 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

"Ef  you  does,"  said  one  of  the  bystanders, 
"you  won'  be  majistrit  long."  He  looked  over 
towards  Mills  for  corroboration. 

The  squire  was  turning  to  him  when  Mills  in- 
tercepted him. 

'  '  You  ain '  never  gwine  to  git  him  bef  o '  you, ' ' 
he  drawled;  "he  ain'  got  no  use  for  law." 

The  justice  turned  his  quid  of  tobacco  over 
and  over  in  his  mouth,  chewing  with  a  force 
which  attested  the  violence  of  his  feelings.  Mills 
understood  the  act  as  if  it  had  been  articulate 
speech. 

"I  heard  him  say  so  myself,"  he  asserted,  as 
if  he  had  been  contradicted. 

"What  'd  he  say?"  a  chewing  individual  on 
the  fence,  in  brown  jeans  and  an  old  straw  hat, 
found  the  energy  to  inquire. 

' l  He  said  he  'd  'a '  had  old  Dr.  Browne  up  for 
turning  his  cows  into  his  corn  long  ago  if  th'  had 
a  jestice  with  any  sense;  but  he  ruther  let  the 
cows  eat  his  corn  than  make  a  fool  of  himself 
going  befo'  a  fool  to  try  an'  git  jestice." 

There  was  a  gleam  of  satisfaction  in  the  small 
gray  eyes  of  the  speaker  as  he  glanced  over  at 
the  man  in  the  chair,  and  saw  how  his  shafts 
had  penetrated  his  armor  of  self-conceit.  The 
individual  referred  to,  whose  mouth  was  too  full 

23 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

to  admit  of  an  attempt  to  speak,  chewed  ran- 
corously. 

"He  ain'  never  forgive  me  for  goin'  against 
him  when  he  run  for  the  Convention, ' '  he  said, 
wiping  the  stained  mouth  on  the  palm  of  his 
hand. 

"He  ain'  never  forgive  you  for  whippin'  that 
nigger  Dick  of  his  whar  you  all  caught  out  with- 
out a  pass  that  night,"  said  Mills,  with  the  air 
of  a  man  who  knows  the  secret  things.  "He 
said  you  an'  Pokeberry  was  the  cusses  of  the 
county  an'  stirred  up  mo'  trouble  with  the  nig- 
gers 'n  anything  else." 

The  magistrate  swore  under  his  breath.  Be- 
ing classed  with  Pokeberry  was  more  than  he 
could  stand. 

"  Ef  I  f  oun '  a  nigger  roamin '  aroun '  without 
a  pass,  was  I  to  change  the  law  becus  'twas  one 
of  his  niggers  ? "  he  said,  in  a  complaining  tone. 

6 '  He  said  'twant  the  law ;  that  the  nigger  give 
a  good  excuse :  he  told  you  he  was  gwine  for  th' 
doctor,  and  he  was  on  a  mule;  and  if  you  'd  'a' 
had  any  sense  you  would  'a '  knowed  it.  He  said 
he  don't  allow  nobody  to  touch  one  o'  his  nig- 
gers ;  and  he  said  the  law  talks  about  discretion 
of  them  whar  ain't  got  as  much  discretion  as  his 
horse. ' ' 

24 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

"Them  Landons  is  the  hard  feelin'est  folks 
in  Ameriky.  They  's  wuss  'n  Injuns !"  declared 
the  dispenser  of  justice. 

"Don'  know  'bout  that,"  drawled  Mills;  "but 
he  cert'ny's  got  some  'n  against  you.  I  don' 
think  you  '11  git  his  endorsement  next  time. ' ' 

This  sally  provoked  a  chuckle  of  amusement 
from  the  speaker  and  his  auditors,  which  was  so 
distasteful  to  the  justice  that  he  rose. 

"I  don'  ixpect  him  and  I  don'  want  him,"  he 
declared,  looking  defiantly  at  his  tormentors. 
"Ef  I  ever  git  him  befo'  me,  I  '11  show  him 
who  's  the  jestice  in  this  district.'' 

He  stalked  over  to  where  his  lean  horse  stood 
tied  to  the  fence,  and  prepared  to  leave. 

"He  says  the  squa'r  don'  know  as  much  law 
as  his  horse, ' '  said  Mills,  in  a  confidential  under- 
tone. ' l  He  says  if  he  had  known  what  a  fool  he 
was,  he  'd  'a'  took  the  place  himself  ruther  than 
have  him  saddled  on  the  county. ' 7 

"I  'd  like  to  see  the  Major  befo'  him  onct," 
hazarded  his  companion. 

"You  'd  see  the  ha'r  fly,"  was  Mills 's  reply. 

"They  are  a  curisome  folks,"  he  added  medi- 
tatively, presently,  after  a  pause  during  which 
the  pompous  old  magistrate  had  mounted  his  de- 
jected beast  and  ridden  away.  "Ain'  a  kinder- 

25 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

hearteder  man  in  th'  worP  than  the  ole  Major  if 
you  take  him  right ;  but  you  can't  shove  him,  not 
a  inch,— not  a  inch,"  he  repeated. 

A  grunt  of  acquiescence  from  his  companions 
reached  him. 

They  were  ruminant  creatures,  these  quiet 
dwellers  on  Newfound;  they  chewed  their 
straws,  or  tobacco  and  plodded  along  their  accus- 
tomed way  as  placidly  as  oxen,  but  stirred  out  of 
their  wonted  calm  they  were  as  difficult  to 
handle.  Mills  evidently  did  not  expect  any 
other  answer,  for  he  proceeded: 

"When  my  ole  ooman  was  took  down  that 
time,  he  corned  over  thar  mo'  reg'lar  'n  th'  doc- 
tor, and  he  knowed  what  to  do  for  her  jes'  as 
good  as  him. ' ' 

The  slanting  sun  fell  through  the  trees  on  the 
little  group  in  their  coarse,  rusty,  old  coats,  and 
lit  up  their  rugged  faces. 

"But  if  you  stir  'im  up,  umph!"  (The  inar- 
ticulate grunt  expressed  fully  the  speaker's 
views.)  "What  you  heard  me  tell  the  ole  squa'r 
thar  jes'  now  is  the  truth.  He  ain'  never  gwine 
forgive  him.  He  ain'  th'  forgivin'  kind.  Ain' 
but  two  folks  in  th'  worl'  he  don'  like,— the 
squa'r  an'  ole  Dr.  Browne." 

"Three,  you  ought  to  say,"  interrupted  one 
26 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

of  his  friends,  a  short,  wiry,  sunburned,  red- 
headed fellow  named  Hall,  with  a  turned-up 
nose  and  a  big  mouth.— "  An'  Pokeberry.  Thar 
he  comes  now." 

"Yes,  and  Pokeberry, "  assented  the  other. 
"He  said  that  he  believed  that  Pokeberry  is  at 
the  bottom  of  more  than  half  the  devilment  the 
niggers  cuts  up,  and  he  jist  wisht  he  could  prove 
it  on  him." 

"You  don't  reckon  there  's  anything  in  that 
word  about  Pokeberry  's  stealin'  niggers,  does 
you?"  asked  one  of  the  group  of  the  speaker. 
The  reply  was  a  grunt  which  might  have  been 
taken  either  way.  It  led  to  a  general  discussion 
of  the  suspicious  circumstances  in  Pokeberry 's 
career,  each  man  contributing  his  quota  until 
they  had  fabricated  a  fairly  good  case  against 
that  by  no  means  immaculate  individual. 

The  members  of  the  group  turned  themselves 
lazily  and  glanced  up  the  sandy  road,  down 
which,  at  a  slouching  pace,  came  a  stout,  heavy- 
set  man  of  about  thirty,  with  a  gun  thrown 
across  his  arm,  and  two  thin,  undersized,  spotted 
hounds  walking  at  his  heel. 

The  contemplation  of  Pokeberry  as  he  ap- 
proached appeared  to  engross  all  the  faculties 
of  the  little  group  against  the  fence,  and  they 

27 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

chewed  their  tobacco  in  silence  until  he  had 
turned  in  at  the  open  door  of  the  little  store  and 
disappeared  from  their  view. 

"Yes,  an'  Pokeberry,"  said  Mills,  taking  up 
the  thread  just  where  he  had  left  off.  "He  put 
him  an'  the  squa'r  together.  He  said  he  won't 
have  him  trackin '  his  niggers  with  houn  's. ' ' 

' i  Houn 's  cain  't  hurt  nobody, ' '  drawled  one  of 
the  group.  "Houn's  is  the  feardest  dogs  in  the 
worl'." 

"  'T  aint  that,"  explained  Mills,  with  superi- 
ority. "He  says,  't  is  the  feelin'." 

"I  wonder  the  Major  ain'  never  had  the 
squa'r  turned  out?"  said  a  man  on  the  fence. 

' '  Nor ;  he  would  n '  put  himself  out  enough  to 
do  that,"  explained  Mills.  "He  knows  the 
squa'r  is  po',  and  he  won't  take  no  step  to  take 
the  office  away  from  him. ' ' 

"I  b'lieve  he  'd  rather  keep  the  squa'r  in  than 
to  turn  him  out, ' '  suggested  Hall,  who  had  some 
sense  of  humor.  "If  he  was  to  los'  him,  he 
would  n'  have  nobody  to  abuse." 

' '  He  could  abuse  that  tother  ole  man  crost  the 
river  yonder  where  's  got  his  land, ' '  said  Mills, 
with  a  sideways  nod  of  his  head  to  the  smoky 
ridge  away  across  the  wooded  bottom  to  the 
right,  through  which  Newfound  crept. 

"That  's  so,"  assented  Hall,  cordially.  "Won- 
28 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

der  what  makes  the  Major  d'spise  him  so!    Be- 
cus  he  would  n'  sell  him  the  ole  place?" 

"Nor;  becus  he  's  so  curious;  becus  he  won't 
have  nothin'  't  all  to  do  with  nobody,  and  jes' 
keeps  himself  shet  up  with  them  two  ole  niggers 
an'  that  little  gal  o'  his.  They  say,  to  be  sure, 
he  's  mighty  good  to  her— leastways,  so  the  nig- 
gers says,  and  they  knows  everything. ' ' 

"The  Major  says  he  ain'  never  been  able  to 
lay  eyes  on  him  since  he  come  heah  an'  settle 
down  on  that  place  right  crost  the  river  from 
him,  where  his  fathers  was  born  and  raised,  and 
where  by  rights  b 'longest  to  him  anyhow.  He 
says  he  shet  himself  up  like  a  snake  in  his  hole, 
and  he  wisht  he  'd  shet  his  cows  up  too. ' ' 

There  was  a  gleam  of  amusement  at  the  witti- 
cism about  the  cows  which  was  appreciated  by 
the  plain  farmer  folk. 

' '  Ain '  never  seen  him  in  that  time  ? ' '  repeated 
one  or  two.  "Does  look  like  something  was 
wrong. ' ' 

"He  said  they  say  he  's  a  gentleman;  but 
he  'd  like  some  proof  of  it.  He  never  seen  a 
gentleman  's  was  afraid  to  look  a  man  in  the 
face."  Sam  Mills  liked  to  quote  the  Major.  It 
was  like  riding  a  better  horse  than  his  neigh- 
bor's. "He  says  he  could  n't  be  more  secret  if 
he  was  an  abolitionist." 

29 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

This  was  enough  in  a  neighborhood  where 
every  incident  of  every  man's  life  was  as  well 
known  and  as  freely  canvassed  by  his  neighbors 
as  if  it  had  happened  to  themselves.  It  was  in- 
explicable except  on  the  theory  of  either  mad- 
ness or  crime,  and,  like  more  enlightened  people, 
the  dwellers  on  Newfound  chose  the  less  chari- 
table theory.  As,  however,  it  was  not  the  cus- 
tom under  that  civilization  for  a  man  to  inter- 
fere with  any  one  else  unless  some  personal  act 
was  committed  which  peculiarly  affected  him, 
the  old  recluse  with  his  two  attendants  and  his 
little  grand-daughter  was  left  unmolested  in  his 
pine-surrounded  hermitage;  and  his  wealthy 
neighbor  contented  himself  with  gibing  at  his 
singular  seclusion,  and  with  forbidding  Bruce 
ever  to  extend  his  fishing  or  hunting  excursions 
to  the  other  side  of  the  little  river,  or  even  to  go 
on  his  land. 

The  coolness  with  which  Bruce  disobeyed  him 
incensed  him.  It  had  been  amusing  enough 
while  he  was  a  little  tot  to  laugh  at  his  defiant 
airs,  but  the  time  had  come  to  pull  him  up  short. 
Even  Mrs.  Landon  with  all  her  mildness  and 
though  her  tender  heart  was  wrung  could  not 
but  admit  that  for  this  time  Bruce  was  in  the 
wrong. 

30 


IV 


TTTHETHER  it  was  that  the. best  fishing- 

YT  holes  were  on  Dr.  Browne's  side  of  the 
river,  and  that  the  river-duck  especially  loved 
the  '  'collard  "-filled  cove  with  its  succulent 
grasses  which  the  backwater  from  the  Major's 
mill-pond  made  on  that  bank,  or  whether  it  was 
Bruce 's  natural  and  inevitable  propensity  to  do 
that  which  was  forbidden,  the  boy  very  shortly 
disobeyed  his  father 's  injunction.  He  came  home 
one  day  with  a  fine  string  of  fish  which  he  boldly 
announced  that  he  and  Dick  had  caught  on  Dr. 
Browne's  bank. 

The  Major  was  immediately  in  a  passion.  He 
declared  that  Bruce  had  ruined  Dick  and  made 
him  a  runaway,  and  wound  up  by  demanding 
that  the  boy  should  with  his  own  hands  imme- 
diately take  the  fish  straight  back  to  their  owner. 

Bruce  refused. 

There  was  a  pitched  battle,  in  which  the  Major 
gave  Bruce,  as  usual,  a  tremendous  thrashing; 

31 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

but  received  still  the  same  dogged  reply  lie  had 
made  him  from  the  first,  "I  won't  do  it  if  you 
kill  me."  Then  he  ordered  him  to  bed. 

The  boy  went,  though  it  was  early  in  the  after- 
noon. 

Then  his  mother,  who  always  acted  the  peace- 
maker between  the  two,  went  up-stairs  to  him. 

Bruce  was  lying  in  bed,  looking  longingly  out 
of  the  window.  His  eyes  had  an  angry  gleam  in 
them,  and  his  mouth  was  drawn.  It  is  not  far, 
however,  from  a  mother's  heart  to  her  son's, 
and  in  a  few  moments  the  boy  was  weeping  in 
his  mother's  arms.  Her  tenderness  brought  the 
submission  which  the  Major's  discipline  had 
failed  to  secure.  Sitting  on  the  bed  by  the  boy, 
holding  his  hand  in  both  of  hers,  she  told  him 
a  story. 

It  was  that  long  years  before  when  his  father 
was  a  boy  just  his  age,  he  had  had  an  elder 
brother  named  Bruce.  He  was  wilful  and  disobe- 
dient ;  defied  all  authority.  One  day  his  father, 
angered  by  his  insubordination,  in  a  passion  said 
to  him  that  he  was  a  disgrace  to  the  name  he 
bore.  '  *  Then  I  will  never  disgrace  it  any  more, ' ' 
he  said  angrily ; ' l  for  I  never  will  bear  it  again, ' ' 
and  with  that  he  had  rushed  out  of  the  house  and 
disappeared.  The  next  day  his  hat  was  found 

32 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

floating  on  the  pond.  The  dam  was  cut,  the  river 
was  dragged,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  re- 
cover the  body,  but  in  vain.  It  killed  his  mother, 
and  embittered  his  father 's  whole  after-life.  He 
never  got  over  it. 

Mrs.  Landon  broke  down,  weeping  at  tHe 
thought  of  the  sad,  bereft  mother.  She  leaned 
over  and  drew  her  son  to  her  bosom,  and  kissed 
him  again  and  again. 

"0  Bruce,  Bruce!  my  son!  my  son!"  she 
sobbed. 

In  a  little  while  Bruce  came  down  and  said 
he  would  take  the  fish  back.  He,  however,  an- 
nounced boldly  that  he  was  going  because  his 
mother  wished  him  to  go,  and  thought  that  he 
ought  not  to  catch  fish  on  another's  land  with- 
out permission,  and  not  because  he  had  been 
whipped. 

The  boy's  feelings  as,  after  he  crossed  the 
river,  he  rode  his  colt  along  the  old  road  through 
the  pines  were  so  strange  and  so  complex  that 
he  remembered  them  years  afterwards.  It  was 
the  first  time  he  had  ever  been  on  the  place,  and 
he  had  never  seen  any  one  who  had  been  there 
except  Dick  Runaway. 

The  shame  he  felt  as  he  rode  along  at  having 
to  confess  that  he  had  caught  the  fish  on  an- 

33 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

other's  property  without  permission  gave  way 
to  a  feeling  of  curiosity  as  he  came  in  sight  of 
the  dense  hedge  of  cedars  which  surrounded  the 
yard  as  with  a  wall.  The  pines  grew  up  almost 
to  the  hedge.  He  passed  between  two  old  lean- 
ing gate-posts  from  one  of  which  hung  the 
broken  fragment  of  an  ancient  gate,  and  found 
himself  in  a  yard  all  grown  up  in  weeds  and 
bushes,  except  on  one  side  where  there  was  a 
flower  garden.  Just  before  him  was  a  long,  low, 
weather-stained  frame-dwelling  with  a  hipped 
roof,  queer  wings,  and  quaint  dormer  windows 
jutting  out. 

Bruce  rode  up,  and  stopped  in  front  of  the 
door.  As  no  one  appeared,  he  called, 

"Hello!" 

From  an  old  and  ruinous  out-building  came 
back,  i  l  Hello ! ' '  but  there  was  no  one  in  sight. 

"Hello !"  he  called  again,  and  again  came  the 
short  reply,  "  Hello !"  which  he  found  was 
nothing  but  an  echo  from  the  old  building  at  the 
side. 

After  waiting  a  moment,  he  decided  that  he 
could  not  have  been  seen,  and  rode  on  and  tied 
his  horse  to  an  overhanging  limb,  and  went  up 
to  the  door. 

He  knocked.  The  stillness  was  so  intense  that 
34 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

the  sound  of  his  rapping  made  him  jump.  The 
odours  of  the  locust  blossoms  became  oppressive  " 
and  the  hum  of  the  bees  among  them  filled  all 
the  silence.  He  was  about  to  leave  and  go 
around  to  the  other  side  of  the  house,  when  a 
door  opened  at  the  far  end  of  the  passage,  and 
an  elderly  negro  woman,  thin  and  black,  and 
with  her  head  tied  up  in  a  blue  checked  handker- 
chief, appeared  and  came  slowly  towards  him. 

' '  Good  evening, ' '  said  Bruce,  and  then,  with- 
out waiting  for  her  to  speak,  began  rapidly: 

"Here  is  a  string  of  fish  I  caught  down  yon- 
der on  your  side  of  the  pond,  and  my  mother 
sent  me  to  bring  them  back."  He  paused  to 
swallow,  for  his  throat  was  dry. 

"Who  you  say  sent  'em?"  asked  the  woman, 
looking  at  them  curiosly. 

"My  mother,— my  father— Major  Landon.  I 
caught  them." 

The  woman's  face  brightened. 

"Thankee,  little  marster,"  she  said. 

The  boy  saw  that  she  considered  them  a  pres- 
ent. The  temptation  was  strong  to  leave  her 
under  the  impression ;  for  he  had  told  her  once 
why  he  had  brought  them  back;  but  Bruce  was" 
as  honest  as  day.  A  Landon  would  not  lie.  He 
thought  of  that  saying  of  Brian  de  Bois  Guil- 

35 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

bert,  "Many  a  law  and  many  a  commandment 
have  I  broken;  but  my  word  never,"  and  he 
gulped  out, 

"They  are  not  a  present— I  caught  them  on 
this  side,— on  your  side,  and  my  mother— and 
my  father— sent  them  back:  my  father  is  Major 
Landon. ' ' 

"What  's  all  this?"  inquired  a  stern  voice. 

Bruce  turned  in  amazement  at  the  sound  of 
the  voice.  An  old  gentleman,  tall  and  gray, 
stood  behind  him. 

"What  was  that  you  were  saying!"  he  asked 
sharply,  his  keen  dark  eyes  gleaming  from  be- 
neath his  shaggy,  white  eyebrows.  The  stern 
voice  and  the  flash  of  the  deep  eyes  above  the 
eagle-like  nose  seemed  so  familiar  to  the  boy, 
that  he  insensibly  assumed  a  hostile  attitude. 
But  he  went  through  his  formula  honestly. 

"I  caught  some  fish  on  your  side  of  the  river, 
and  I  have  brought  them  back,  as  my  mother 
and  father  thought  I  ought  not  to  have  done  it 
without  permission." 

The  sturdy  honesty  of  the  boy  and  the  evident 
struggle  he  underwent  attracted  the  old  man, 
and  a  kindly  light  stole  into  his  eyes. 

"So  you  caught  them  without  permission,  did 
you,  and  they  made  you  bring  them  back?" 

36 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

A  curious  look  shone  even  through  his  long 
beard. 

"I  brought  them  because  my  mother  wanted 
me  to  do  it,"  said  Bruce  doggedly. 

"Oh,  because  your  mother  wanted  it!"  he 
muttered.  He  had  averted  "his  face  slightly,  but 
now  he  turned  to  the  boy,  and  laying  his  hand 
on  his  head,  he  said  gently, 

"You  have  my  permission  to  fish  or  hunt,  or 
do  anything  you  wish  anywhere  on  my  property ; 
but,  my  son,  remember  this,  '  Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in  the 
land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. '  ' '  He 
suddenly  turned  and  walked  into  the  house. 

When  Bruce  came  home  that  night  he  avowed 
himself  the  friend  of  his  new  acquaintance,  and 
from  that  time  he  was  his  steadfast  champion. 

He  gave  notice  of  the  permission  he  had  re- 
ceived, and  boldly  announced  his  purpose  to 
avail  himself  of  it.  There  was  another  battle 
which  might  be  said  to  have  been  drawn,  as  nei- 
ther side  was  conquered,  and  each  stood  at  the 
end  just  where  he  stood  at  the  beginning  of  the 
contest. 

It  was  not  very  long  afterwards  that  he  car- 
ried out  his  purpose,  and  crossing  the  pond  went 
over  to  the  forbidden  bank.  The  ducks  he  was 

37 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

after,  however,  were  not  found,  having  been 
probably  frightened  off  by  the  cows  that  were 
grazing  down  in  the  marsh,  and  whose  bells  he 
heard  mellowed  in  the  distance.  He  followed 
a  narrow  path  which  led  along  the  edge  of  a  lit- 
tle inlet  filled  with  tasselled  alder  bushes.  Up  at 
its  further  point  inland  a  fine  spring  bubbled 
from  beneath  a  flat  rock  above  which  towered 
a  poplar,  straight  and  clean  of  limb  for  fifty  feet. 
Another  path  came  down  the  hill  to  the  spring 
from  the  woods  above.  The  water  from  the 
spring  for  some  distance  ran  down  rippling  over 
a  bed  of  clean  sand  just  beside  the  path  and  then 
turned  away  into  the  thickets  of  alders. 

Bruce,  laying  his  gun  down,  stooped  and 
drank  at  the  spring,  and  then  flung  himself  on 
the  ground  at  the  foot  of  the  poplar,  and  fixing 
his  head  comfortably,  gazed  up  at  the  blue  sum- 
mer sky.  He  heard  the  faint  clatter  of  the  cow- 
bells below  him,  softened  by  the  distance  to  a 
low,  mellow,  and  irregular  tinkle.  He  heard  the 
water  purling  over  some  pebbles  close  by;  he 
heard  a  woodwren  's  bright  note  in  a  tree  above ; 
he  heard  the  faint  call  of  his  father 's  ploughmen 
across  the  pond  to  their  teams,  and  then— he  felt 
a  hand  or  something  on  his  face,  and  then— 
some  one  kissed  him ;  and,  opening  his  eyes,  he 

38 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

found  himself  looking  up  into  the  wide-open, 
and  somewhat  startled  big  brown  eyes  of  a  little 
girl  who  was  kneeling  beside  him,  bending  over 
him  with  a  look  of  mingled  wonderment  and 
pleasure.  Her  cheeks  were  as  pink  as  roses,  and 
her  curling  hair  was  hanging  in  tangles  on  either 
side  of  her  throat,  leaving  her  oval  face  like  a 
picture  set  in  a  frame  of  loosely  twisted  dull  red 
gold. 

As  Bruce  opened  his  eyes,  she  drew  back  with 
a  start. 

"Oh,  it  's  come  true!"  she  exclaimed  with  a 
little  gasp,  throwing  herself  back  and  sitting  on 
her  feet,  and  clasping  her  small  hands  tightly 
in  her  excitement.  Her  great  dark  eyes  were 
dancing  in  her  head. 

The  child  was  so  pretty  that  the  boy  lay  still 
with  his  eyes  on  her,  fearing  that  a  motion 
might  frighten  her. 

"What  has  come  true?"  he  asked  presently. 

"What  grandpapa  and  mammy  read  me  out 
of  the  fairy  book,"  she  said,  throwing  her  hair 
back  out  of  her  way. 

"What  was  that?" 

"Why,  about  the  prince  who  came  down  out 
of  the  sky  (but  he  was  asleep),  and  the  princess 
that  kissed  him,  and  waked  him  up,  and  made 

39 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

him  love  her,  and  they  lived  happily  together 
all  their  lives." 

"Oh!  about  that!"  said  Bruce,  definitely. 

"Are  n't  you  the  prince?"  she  asked  sweetly, 
moved  by  a  faint  suspicion  at  something  in  his 
voice. 

"You  are  the  princess,  at  any  rate,"  said  the 
boy,  gallantly,  raising  himself  on  his  elbow  and 
looking  at  her  with  admiration. 

"No,  I  'm  not  the  princess;  I  'm  nothing  but 
a  little  girl ;  but  when  I  found  you  here  I  knew 
you  were  the  prince,  and  I  thought  it  might  do 
even  if  I  were  not  the  princess,  and  I  do  want 
somebody  to  play  with  so  bad."  The  little  face 
was  quite  pitiful. 

"Grandpapa  an'  mammy  an'  Unc'  Polium 
an'  Laz'rus  and  George  Washington  do  all  they 
can ;  but  I  want  a  prince.  Are  n  't  you  a  prince, 
sure  enough?"  She  asked  the  question  with  a 
sudden  return  of  faith,  struck,  perhaps,  by  the 
smile  which  lit  up  the  handsome  face  of  her  com- 
panion. 

"Well,  they  don't  have  many  princes  around 
here,"  said  Bruce,  evasively,  and  then  a  sudden 
thought  struck  him.  ' '  I  will  play  that  I  am  your 
prince." 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

"Oh,  will  you?  And  you  will  love  me  and 
play  with  me?" 

She  leant  forward,  and  in  her  earnestness  put 
one  little  plump,  brown  hand  on  the  back  of 
Bruce 's.  It  thrilled  him,  boy  as  he  was,  with  a 
sudden  sense  of  ownership  and  protection. 

'  '  Yes, "  he  nodded. 

"And  you  will  be  good  to  Laz'rus  and  George 
Washington ! ' ' 

Bruce  nodded  affirmatively;  then  inquired: 

"Who  are  they?" 

"Why,  they  are  my  cats,  and  they  both  have 
kittens." 

"Have  they?"  exclaimed  Bruce,  in  unfeigned 
surprise  at  this  astonishing  information. 

She  nodded. 

"Umh-umh-!" 

"What  is  your  name,  Prince?"  she  asked 
presently. 

"Bruce." 

"Oh,  I  know:— Bruce,  prince  of  Scotland. 
Grandpapa  told  me  about  him.  I  'm  so  glad !  I 
was  afraid  maybe  you  were  an  Eastern  prince. ' ' 

"No,"  said  Bruce;  "I  am  not  one  of  those. 
Do  you  think  I  look  like  one?" 

1 '  Well,  you  must  be  mighty  rich. ' '  She  gazed 
41 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

at  his  watch-chain  with  a  look  of  appraisement ; 
"but  they  wear  chewnies,  and  are  black  like  Unc' 
Folium. ' ' 

"Who  is  Unc'  Folium?"  asked  Bruce. 

"Unc'  Folium?  don't  you  know  him?  He  's 
my  mammy's  husband,  and  my  grandpapa's 
body-servant. ' ' 

"Who  is  your  grandpapa?" 

"Grandpapa!  Oh,  he  don't  know  grand- 
papa, ' '  she  laughed  in  glee.  l '  Well,  how  funny ! 
Why,  he  's  my  grandpapa,— my  grandfather, 
you  know,"  she  explained. 

"What  's  his  name?" 

"What  's  his  name?  Why,  he  has  n't  got  any 
name— he  's  just  grandpapa,  so.  Oh,  yes; 
mammy  and  Unc'  Folium  call  him  Master.  I 
reckon  that  must  be  his  name. ' ' 

*  '  No,  that  is  n  't  a  name  at  all, ' '  urged  Bruce ; 
"they  call  him  that  because  they  are  slaves." 

"They  are  n't  slaves!  My  mammy  ain't  any 
slave!"  exclaimed  the  child. 

"Oh,  ain't  she?  Where  do  you  live?"  he 
asked. 

"Up  there,  at  home."  She  pointed  up  the 
path. 

The  cow-bells  sounded  more  distinctly,  as  the 
42 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

cows  passed  up  the  hill.  She  rose  and  brushed 
the  leaves  and  small  sticks  from  her  dress. 

6 '  It  's  getting  late ;  I  must  go.  I  hear  Teen- 
sey  going  home;  mammy's  got  her.  Will  you 
come  with  me?" 

"No,  I  must  go  home,"  said  Bruce. 

"Well,  will  you  come  again  to-morrow?" 

"Yes;  good  evening." 

"Good  evening,  Prince  Bruce."— She  put  up 
her  mouth  to  be  kissed,  and  the  boy  stooped  and 
kissed  her  gently. 

"Run  away,  and  I  will  wait  until  you  are  at 
the  top  of  the  hill,"  he  said  coaxingly.  She 
started,  and  then  stopped. 

* '  Will  you  play  with  me  ? ' '  she  asked,  turning 
and  looking  back  at  him. 

"Yes;  run  along." 

"And  you  will  come  back  to-morrow?" 

' '  Yes ;  to-morrow  afternoon. ' ' 

"Yes;  when  mammy  comes  after  the  cows?" 

"Yes." 

"Good  by."  And  she  ran  up  the  hill,  her  lit- 
tle bare  legs  shining,  and  her  loose  hair  stream- 
ing behind  her. 


43 


V 


WHEN  Bruce  reached  home  that  evening 
he  gave  so  graphic  a  description  of  his 
meeting  with  the  little  girl  that  his  father  was 
too  much  interested  to  upbraid  him  with  his  dis- 
obedience, and  his  mother  was  outspoken  in  her 
sympathy. 

( ' What  was  her  name?"  she  asked. 

"I  did  n't  think  to  ask  her/'  Bruce  replied. 

"What,  sir!  Kiss  a  girl,  and  not  know  who 
she  is  T '  said  his  father. 

"She  was  mighty  pretty,"  responded  the  boy, 
naively. 

' i  Oh,  she  was  1  The  name  then  does  n  't  make 
so  much  difference, ' '  laughed  his  father. 

1 1  Oh,  yes !  her  name  is  Margaret  Reid, ' '  said 
Bruce.  l '  Sam  Mills  told  me  so  once. ' ' 

The  next  afternoon  Bruce  was  true  to  his 
appointment ;  but  when  he  arrived  at  the  spring, 
his  little  friend  was  not  there.  After  waiting 
what,  in  his  boyish  impatience,  appeared  to  him 
an  age,  he  started  up  the  path  which  led  up  the 
hill.  Just  before  reaching  the  top,  however,  he 

44 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

heard  a  coaxing  voice  calling,  "  Kitty,  Kitty, 
Kitty!  Come  along,  Kitty!"  and  through  the 
woods  at  a  little  distance  appeared  his  little  girl. 
Her  head  was  bare,  and  she  was  carrying  some- 
thing in  her  large  poke  bonnet,  the  edges  of 
which  she  was  with  much  pains  keeping  to- 
gether, whilst  behind  her,  with  tails  erect, 
walked  two  cats,  mewing  and  looking  up  at  her. 

At  sight  of  Bruce  she  smiled  and  quickened 
her  pace. 

' '  Oh,  have  you  come  1 ' 9  she  called  in  a  pleased 
tone.  "I  was  late  because  George  Washington 
would  n't  come,  and  King  Alfred  got  under  the 
porch  and  spit  at  me.— Get  back  there!"  This 
was  to  a  kitten  whose  little  black  head  was  pro- 
truding from  the  bonnet. 

"Which  is  George  Washington?"  asked 
Bruce. 

"That  's  she,  with  the  white  nose.  And  King 
Alfred  is  her  kitten.  Here  they  are. ' '  And  she 
suddenly  let  go  one  side  of  the  calico  bonnet  and 
poured  out  on  the  ground  a  half-dozen  kittens, 
on  which  the  two  cats  immediately  pounced  with 
maternal  solicitude. 

"King  Alfred  will  never  go  to  heaven,"  she 
said  suddenly,  with  that  serious  manner  which 
characterized  her  utterances. 

45 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEK 

"Why,  cats  don't  go  to  heaven,"  said  Bruce. 

"Oh,  they  do!" 

"Where  did  you  get  that  idea!" 

"Why,  grandpapa  says  that  everything  that 
loves  goes  to  heaven ;  that  Heaven  is  love. ' ' 

This  was  a  little  too  abstruse  for  the  boy ;  but 
he  saw  that  it  would  grieve  her  to  disturb  her 
belief,  so  he  asked, 

"What  makes  you  think  that  King  Alfred 
won't  go  to  heaven  I" 

"Because  he  does  n't  mind  what  is  said  to 
him." 

"Does  that  keep  people  from  going  to 
heaven?" 

"Yes;  grandpapa  says  that  it  's  the  aw-ful- 
est  thing  there  is." 

In  his  heart  Bruce  trusted  that  that  partic- 
ular sin  did  not  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  beyond 
hope ;  but  he  said  nothing. 

1  i  Who  is  your  mamma  ! "  he  asked  presently. 

1 '  She  is  in  heaven, ' '  said  the  child,  simply. 

"Who  is  your  papa!" 

"Papa  is  there  too.    He  was  a  soldier." 

There  was  a  pause  in  which  she  was  mani- 
festly reflecting. 

"Banquo  is  there  too,"  she  said  presently. 

' '  Who  is  he  f "  inquired  Bruce,  with  a  dim  rec- 
46 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

ollection  of  having  read  of  some  one  of  that 
name,  but  he  could  not  recall  where. 

"He  's  grandpapa's  old  dog." 

"It  seems  to  be  a  very  large  place,"  he  sug- 
gested. 

"It  is,"  she  said  with  quiet  serenity. 

By  this  time  they  had  reached  the  spring,  and 
the  kittens  were  allowed  a  second  release  from 
their  confinement  in  the  bonnet. 

"I  told  grandpapa  about  you,"  she  said  pres- 
ently. 

' '  You  did  f    What  did  he  say ! " 

"He  said  that  you  were  not  a  prince  at  all." 

"Did  he  say  that?" 

"Yes ;  and  he  said  that  I  was  a  princess  in  his 
eyes. ' '  She  seated  herself  on  the  ground  beside 
Bruce,  and  leaned  her  elbow  on  his  knee  with 
perfect  confidingness. 

"And  he  said  that  you  had  better  not  come 
up  there— up  home."  She  waved  her  little 
hand  up  towards  the  top  of  the  hill. 

"Ah!" 

"Yes;  because  your  father  would  not  like  it." 

A  guilty  feeling  came  over  the  boy,  and  he 
felt  a  longing  to  leave  her  under  the  belief  in 
his  innocence;  but  he  said  resolutely, 

"He  would  n't." 

47 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

"Why  would  n't  he  like  it?"  she  asked,  with 
the  calm  persistence  of  childhood. 

"I  don't  know;  he  does  n't  like  a  good  many 
things  I  do." 

"Oh,  does  n't  he?    I  do." 

The  unaffected  praise  of  the  child  was  very 
grateful  to  the  boy,  and  a  smile  of  pleasure  came 
over  his  handsome  face. 

"I  wish  we  could  live  together,  don't  you?" 
she  said,  suddenly  turning  and  nestling  up 
against  him  with  perfect  trustfulness. 

The  confidingness  of  the  act  was  so  sweet  that 
the  boy  stooped  over  and  kissed  her  gently. 

"I  wish  we  could,"  he  said. 

"We  can  get  married,  and  I  '11  give  you  my 
kitties,  and  you  can  have  my  mammy  and  grand- 
papa. ' ' 

i '  All  right, ' '  said  Bruce,  laughing  at  her  seri- 
ousness. 

"All  right.  I  told  grandpapa  last  night  we 
were  going  to  be  married." 

' '  You  did !    What  did  he  say  ?  " 

"At  first  he  laughed,  and  then  he  took  me  up 
on  his  knee  and  told  me  I  did  not  know  what  I 
was  talking  about.  And  he  said  that  when  I 
grew  up  you  would  'spise  me,  and  that 
I  would  hate  you;  and  then  he  got  up 

48 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

and  walked  about  and  looked  so  angry  I  had  to 
climb  up  on  the  chair  and  kiss  him,  and  tell  him 
I  would  not  marry  anybody  but  him. ' ' 

She  had  grown  eloquent  as  she  narrated  the 
interview,  and  the  boy  thought  she  looked  like  a 
fairy,  as  she  stood  there  instinctively  imitating 
her  grandfather's  angry  gestures.  When  she 
had  ended  she  sank  down  beside  him  again. 

"You  won't  'spise  me,  will  you?"  she  asked 
pleadingly. 

"No,  that  I  won't,"  said  Bruce,  sincerely. 

"And  you  will  play  with  me,  won't  you?  be- 
cause I  did  wake  you  up,  did  n't  I?" 

1 '  Yes.    And  you  won 't  ever  hate  me  1 ' ' 

"  No ;  and  here  's  my  ring ;  it  *s  mine ;  and  you 
must  keep  it  just  like  we  were  married,  and— 
there  's  mammy  calling  me,  and  I  must  go.— 
Come  here,  kitties ! ' ' 

She  made  a  rush  upon  the  kittens,  which  were 
drowsily  taking  their  suppers,  and  gathering 
them  up  tossed  them  into  her  bonnet  without 
much  reference  to  their  comfort,  and  with  a 
hasty  "Good  by,"  ran  up  the  hill,  hugging  her 
precious  burden  to  her  bosom,  and  followed  by 
the  faithful  Lazarus  and  George  Washington 
mewing  faintly. 

That  evening  Bruce 's  recital  was  not  received 
49 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

by  his  father  with  the  same  complacency  which 
he  had  exhibited  the  evening  before. 

"I  thought  I  told  you  not  to  go  over  there 
again  1 ' '  said  he,  sternly. 

t '  You  did  not  tell  me  so  yesterday, ' '  asserted 
the  boy. 

"Did  not  tell  you  so  yesterday?  Do  you 
think,  sir,  that  I  have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
spend  my  time  telling  you  the  same  thing ! ' ' 

He  paused  for  a  moment's  reflection;  then  he 
said, 

"Bruce,  I  want  you  to  promise  me  not  to  go 
over  there  again." 

The  boy  was  silent ;  but  the  dogged  look  set- 
tled on  his  face.  His  father  noted  it. 

"I  should  think  you  'd  be  ashamed  to  asso- 
ciate with  such  people.  They  are  low,  and 
worthless,  and  unfit  associates  for  a  gentleman, ' ' 
he  said  sneeringly. 

An  angry  light  came  into  the  boy's  eyes. 
"They  are  not,"  he  said. 

1 '  Don 't  contradict  me,  sir.  They  may  be  very 
fit  associates  for  you  if  you  have  a  taste  for  such 
companions;  but  they  are  nothing  but  common 
people.  That  little  girl  is  the  daughter  of  a  low, 
common  man  like — Pokeberry  Green,  or  his  asso- 
ciates." He  selected  his  shaft  carefully. 

50 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

1  '  She  is  not, ' '  contradicted  the  boy,  defiantly. 
"She  is  as  much  a  lady— as,— as  any  one,— and 
I  will  go  there.  And  I  will  marry  her  when  I 
grow  up,  and  am  a  man. ' '  He  stood  before  his 
father,  with  flashing  eyes  and  fearless  mien. 

"Go  to  your  room,  sir,"  said  the  major  in 
high  wrath. 

Bruce  left  the  library  and  went  up- stairs  to 
his  room ;  but  his  determination  was  unchanged. 

The  next  day  he  learned  that  he  was  to  be  sent 
off  to  school  at  once,  and  that  afternoon  he  was 
driven  away  in  the  carriage  on  his  way  to  a 
school  in  another  State. 


51 


VI 


BRUCE  LANDON  remained  from  home  the 
best  part  of  eight  years.  The  Major  deter- 
mined to  give  him  not  only  the  best  education, 
but  the  advantages  of  travel  as  well.  He  meant 
if  possible  to  eradicate  the  taste  he  thought  he 
had  discovered  in  him  by  broadening  his  mind. 
Bruce,  having  applied  himself,  easily  won 
enough  honors  to  satisfy  even  his  father's 
ambition.  The  Landons  had  been  noted  of  old 
for  their  distinction  at  William  and  Mary, 
and  Bruce 's  successes  awakened  all  his  father's 
pride.  On  the  few  occasions  when  Bruce 
was  at  home  from  college  the  relations 
between  them  were,  therefore,  completely 
altered. 

During  this  period  affairs  on  Newfound  re- 
mained in  their  wonted  condition.  Eight  years 
made  little  difference  in  that  quiet  life.  If 
affairs  moved  at  all,  they  moved  so  slowly  that 
a  longer  arc  than  eight  years  was  needed  to  de- 
tect it.  The  pines  had  grown  closer  about  Lan- 

52 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

don  Hill,  where  the  recluse  doctor  still  kept  him- 
self shut  up.  The  Major  still  gazed  at  the  old 
place  across  the  low  grounds,  and  still  cherished 
a  negative  kind  of  animosity  against  his  neigh- 
bor, declaiming  with  much  rancor  of  expression 
against  the  iniquity  of  his  remaining  secluded 
and  allowing  his  cows  to  run  on  other  people. 
Mills  and  Hall  and  other  dwellers  on  the  river 
still  absorbed  and  reflected  mildly  the  major's 
opinions.  Squire  Johnson,  unmolested,  still  held 
his  little  office,  contenting  himself  with  an  asser- 
tion of  independence  behind  the  Major's  back. 
And  Newfound  still  crept  lazily  between  its  low 
wood-  or  corn-covered  banks,  moving,  like  the 
people  who  lived  upon  it,  slow,  calm,  sleepy. 

What  passed  within  the  pine-girt  hermitage 
where  Dr.  Browne  lived  with  his  grand-daugh- 
ter and  two  old  domestics  no  one  outside  knew. 

The  little  negro  man  with  his  quaint  old  faded 
and  patched  uniform,  his  worn  beaver,  and  his 
exaggerated  manner,  occasionally  paid  a  visit 
to  the  mill  for  a  small  bag  of  meal  or  flour,  or 
to  the  post-office  to  inquire  for  a  letter,  and  ex- 
cept for  these  they  held  no  more  communication 
with  the  outer  world  than  if  they  had  been  im- 
prisoned in  a  dungeon. 

Suspicion,  fostered  by  Pokeberry  Green,  cen- 
53 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

tred  upon  the  old  recluse  with  rather  more  defin- 
iteness  than  before.  It  was  believed  that  in  some 
way  he  was  connected  with  the  occasional  disap- 
pearance of  negroes  in  that  region.  It  seemed 
to  have  a  little  more  foundation.  Pokeberry 
still  followed  his  ungracious  calling  of  trying 
to  recapture  runaway  negroes.  He  had  re- 
ceived another  legacy  which  he  had  quickly 
squandered.  Once  or  twice  Pokeberry  had 
started  a  report  that  Dr.  Browne  gave  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  runaways;  but  it  had  died  out. 
Had  any  one  else  but  this  man  circulated  such 
a  report  it  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  oc- 
casioned an  investigation,  if  not  to  have  driven 
the  old  man  from  the  county.  Had  there  not 
been  the  overwhelming  circumstances  of  the  doc- 
tor 's  suspicious  conduct,  Pokeberry 's  charac- 
ter was  so  bad  that  nothing  he  said  could  have 
had  any  weight.  As  it  was,  the  two  together 
were  just  sufficient  to  keep  gossip  alive  about 
the  owner  of  the  old  Landon  place,  and  to  make 
him  and  everything  connected  with  him  a  mat- 
ter of  keen  interest. 

The  eight  years  wrought  more  changes  in  the 
doctor's  grand-daughter  than  in  almost  any  one 
else  on  Newfound.  The  little  girl  that  had 
found  the  prince  under  the  poplar  tree  beside 

54 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

the  spring  grew  up  among  the  pines;  her  com- 
panions: her  grandfather,  her  mammy,  the 
progeny  of  Lazarus  and  George  Washington, 
the  roses  and  hollyhocks  in  the  ancient  tangled 
garden,  and  the  friends  she  found  in  the  few  old 
volumes  in  the  bookcase.  They  were  a  curious 
lot:  Evelina,  Clarissa  Harlowe,  Sir  Charles 
Grandison,  Pamela,  Sir  Eoger  de  Coverley, 
Lord  Orville,  Lizzie  Bennet,  Mr.  Darcy,  Emma 
Woodhouse,  and  a  few  others  besides  the  char- 
acters from  the  dramas  of  Corneille,  Eacine  and 
Moliere,  and  other  French  classics.  Her  grand- 
father was  a  great  sufferer  from  an  old  wound, 
a  confirmed  invalid,  and  was  often  confined  to 
his  room  and  chair.  But  he  taught  her,  though 
in  a  desultory  way,  enough  to  have  made  her 
quite  the  equal  in  education  of  most  young  ladies 
of  her  time,  and  as  she  had  always  spoken 
French  she  was  soon  more  familiar  with  the 
classic  French  literature  than  with  the  English. 

An  invalid  is  next  to  a  child  in  developing  a 
woman's  instincts.  She  read  to  him,  tended  him, 
and  petted  him  as  if  he  were  a  baby. 

Once  or  twice  she  ventured,  when  a  young  girl, 
to  accompany  her  mammy  to  the  Crossroads 
store  to  make  a  few  little  purchases;  but  some 
tipsy  men,  one  of  whom  had  a  long,  ugly,  purple 

55 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

scar  on  his  sunburned  cheek  and  neck,  stared  so 
at  the  straight,  handsome,  half -grown  girl  with 
her  large  brown  eyes  under  her  coarse  hat,  that 
she  never  again  went  beyond  the  pines  in  which 
was  her  world.  Twice  she  met  the  same  man 
with  the  purple  scar,  down  on  the  pond.  He 
came  upon  her  each  time  as  she  was  fishing.  He 
tried  to  talk  to  her ;  but  she  hastily  left  the  pond 
and  ran  home.  The  last  time,  he  said  something 
to  her  which  she  felt  was  impertinent,  and  she 
ever  afterwards  avoided  that  part  of  the  pond. 

Pokeberry,  at  the  grocery,  had  drunkenly  de- 
clared his  admiration,  and  duly  declared  there, 
subsequently,  his  repulse. 

One  day  she  discovered  up-stairs  in  the  dark 
little  garret  several  old  trunks  covered  with  dust 
and  cobwebs.  She  opened  one  of  them  and  found 
it  filled  with  old  dresses,  and  odds  and  ends  of 
woman's  wear,  all  curious,  but  rich  and  with  the 
faint  odors  of  lavender  and  long  past  summers 
in  their  folds.  They  must  have  been  nearly  a 
hundred  years  old.  Some  were  laVns,  filmy  and 
faded  as  if  with  age,  others  stiff  brocades  with 
long  waists  and  padded  petticoats  and  stom- 
achers. They  made  her  eyes  open. 

Whom  could  they  have  belonged  to  f 

She  took  them  out  tenderly  and  turned  them 
56 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

over  and  over  with  caressing  hands ;  measured 
them  by  her  own  straight,  supple  figure,  and  in 
her  fancy  pictured  them  as  belonging  to  the  fine 
ladies  she  knew  in  the  brown  calf-backed  books 
down-stairs.  From  this  she  began  to  dream  of 
a  later  time.  They  must  have  belonged  to  some 
ancestors  and  she  wondered  how  she  herself 
would  have  looked  in  some  of  them.  She  ven- 
tured to  ask  her  grandfather  about  them.  He 
seemed  startled  and  desired  her  not  to  go  into 
the  trunks.  Her  grandfather 's  wish  was  law  to 
her,  and  she  went  no  more  for  a  long  time.  One 
day,  however,  she  asked  him  about  her  mother. 
He  became  too  agitated  to  tell  her  a  great  deal, 
except  that  she  had  died  when  she,  Margaret, 
was  born.  Margaret  knew  that  her  father  had 
been  killed  in  a  battle.  And  this  was  all  she 
knew  of  her  father  or  mother  except  that  when 
she  asked  her  mammy  what  she  was  like  she  al- 
ways told  her,  "Like  you,  honey;  jes'  your  size 
an*  all,  only  prettier." 

So  she  passed  her  time  growing  up,  with  her 
large  eyes,  and  her  sunny  hair,  tending  her 
grandfather  as  he  sat  in  his  old  arm-chair;  liv- 
ing with  her  friends  in  the  age-browned  books ; 
fishing  in  the  pond ;  wandering  in  the  pines ;  go- 
ing after  the  cows;  tending,  because  they  were 

57 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

pretty,  her  hollyhocks,  sweet-peas,  and  roses  in 
the  garden,  as  wild,  yet  as  much  at  home  among 
them,  as  the  sparrows  and  thrushes  which  built 
in  the  lilacs. 

If,  as  she  ran  wild  about  the  place,  or 
followed  the  paths  through  the  pines  in  her 
search  for  the  vagrant  cows,  she  sometimes 
glanced  over  across  the  placid  pond  and  the 
alder  thickets  to  the  green  low-grounds  and 
fields  of  Landon  Hall,  and  may  have  felt  a  mild 
surmise  as  to  the  boy  whom  she  had  once  found 
asleep  under  the  tree  by  the  spring,  it  was  sim- 
ply an  act  of  memory,  and  the  feeling  was  too 
vague  to  take  definite  shape. 

In  her  isolated  life  Margaret  Eeid  often 
found  occasion  to  contemplate  the  difference 
between  her  situation  and  that  of  other  girls  of 
her  age  and  condition.  She  had  no  friends 
except  her  grandfather  and  the  old  servants, 
and  no  companions  except  these  and  the  few 
domestic  animals  they  owned.  Her  situation 
cut  her  off  from  others  of  her  age  and  kind 
about  her  as  completely  as  though  she  had  been 
an  Eastern  princess  condemned  to  perpetual 
seclusion.  She  knew  from  her  reading,  and  per- 
haps she  felt  in  her  heart  that  this  was  not  natu- 
ral, that  there  must  be  some  compelling  motive 

58 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

which  caused  her  grandfather  to  cut  himself  off 
from  everyone  about  him,  and  though  it  never 
occurred  to  her  to  question  the  soundness  of  his 
position,  yet  she  often  wondered  why  he  lived 
in  such  retirement.  She  knew  that  girls  of  her 
class  were  usually  educated  in  convents,  but 
there  they  made  friends  and  had  the  guidance 
of  the  good  sisters.  And  sometimes,  she  longed 
for  the  unknown,  but  imagined  companionship 
of  those  of  her  own  age.  There  were  many 
young  people  in  the  neighborhood  and  with  some 
of  them  she  had  formed  a  casual  acquaintance ; 
but  though  she  liked  them  she  was  both  shy  and 
proud.  Her  grandfather  held  himself  aloof 
from  everyone,  and  she  knew  that  in  some  way 
he  was  generally  regarded  with  coldness.  In 
her  childhood  she  thought  it  might  have  been 
the  difference  in  their  religion,  but  as  she  grew 
older  this  idea  waned.  She  asked  Father  Shan- 
non something  about  it  once ;  but  the  good  father 
either  did  not  know  or  felt  it  better  not  to  en- 
lighten her ;  so  all  she  got  was  a  pat  on  the  head 
and  a  reply  that  her  grandfather  was  the  proper 
person  to  consult. 

This  naturally  threw  her  back  on  herself  and 
her  face  often  wore  a  meditative  expression 
which  might  have  seemed  melancholy  had  it  not 

59 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

been  so  lovely  in  its  soft  dreaminess.  This  was 
the  more  charming  because  the  sudden  flash  of 
her  smile  as  her  countenance  lit  up  was  like  the 
sunlight  breaking  through  a  soft  mist.  Her 
whole  expression  became  transformed.  Yet,  in 
this  solitary  life  she  found  much  that  escapes 
those  who  rush  headlong  and  heedless  through 
existence.  She  came  to  know  the  wild  things  of 
wood  and  field  as  only  those  can  know  them  who 
have  a  love  for  them  and  time  in  which  to  show 
it.  Further,  though  she  knew  few  people  she 
knew  much  of  those  few.  What  puzzled  her  was 
the  unequalled  distribution  of  Nature's  gifts: 
how  some  could  have  so  much  and  some  so  little. 
When  she  spoke  to  her  grandfather  about  this 
he  gave  her  reasons  which  did  not  satisfy  her: 
the  established  order :  legal  rights :  the  fact  that 
the  rich  were  not  happier  than  the  poor.  She 
could  not  accept  these  views.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  Mrs.  Landon  in  her  fine  carriage  with  rust- 
ling silks  must  be  happier  than  the  drawling- 
voiced,  slatternly  women  she  saw  in  their  cabins 
with  their  frowsy  heads  and  dingy  calico  frocks. 
She  felt  so  strongly  about  this  that  she  deter- 
mined to  do  what  she  could  to  alleviate  the  con- 
dition of  these  latter,  and  with  this  intention  she 
went  around  among  some  of  the  poor  neighbors 

60 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

and  offered  to  teach  their  children.  When  she 
consulted  her  grandfather  he  appeared  amused 
at  the  idea.  They  did  not  want  to  be  taught,  he 
told  her,  and  would  not  thank  her  for  her  pains. 
But  she  was  so  eager  to  try  her  project  that  he 
permitted  her  to  make  the  trial.  To  her  sur- 
prise, her  offer  was  received  with  some  suspi- 
cion and  entire  indifference.  Even  when  under 
her  perseverance  they  yielded  a  reluctant  as- 
sent, it  was  evident  that  they  considered  it  a 
favor  to  her. 

In  the  years  that  had  passed,  Dick  Euna way's 
hatred  of  Pokeberry  Green  had  largely  in- 
creased. Pokeberry  was  in  the  main  unpopu- 
lar enough  with  the  dwellers  on  Newfound, 
white  and  black;  but  there  were  a  few  who 
whether  they  liked  him  or  not  were  fain  to  put 
up  with  him,  and  among  these  was  Runaway 
Dick.  It  was  a  high  crime  and  misdemeanor  to 
sell  liquor  to  negroes  and  only  those  bold  enough 
to  defy  or  sharp  enough  to  evade  the  law  ven- 
tured to  do  so.  But  Pokeberry  cared  little  for 
law,  provided  his  infractions  of  it  were  not  dis- 
covered. And  as  the  runaway  was  very  fond 
of  liquor  a  sort  of  friendship  at  one  time  sprang 
up  between  the  two  men.  Thus,  Dick's  lair 
which  he  had  arranged  with  great  shrewdness 

61 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

in  the  most  inaccessible  part  of  the  swamp  on 
Newfound  was  known  to  Pokeberry.  He  from 
time  to  time  visited  Dick  there,  having  discovered 
the  retreat  through  the  slave's  liking  for  his 
illicit  ware.  His  visits  he  made  in  a  boat  which 
he  handled  with  great  skill,  though  curiously 
enough  he  could  not  swim  a  stroke.  If  the  truth 
were  known,  Pokeberry  in  the  beginning  had 
had  something  to  do  with  Dick's  intermittent 
escapades,  and  these  at  first  were  largely  due  to 
Green's  wily  suggestions  of  the  joys  of  free- 
dom, especially  when  tinged  with  liberal 
draughts  of  whiskey.  These  eventually  were 
carried  further  until  Pokeberry  began  to  tempt 
the  runaway  with  undisguised  promises  of  per- 
manent freedom.  There  were  times  when  Dick 
appeared  to  lend  a  willing  ear  to  these  alluring 
temptations,  when,  stretched  on  the  grassy  bank 
in  the  spring  sunshine,  he  idly  watched  his  corks 
floating  on  the  placid  surface  of  his  choice  fish- 
ing-holes and  reflected  how  much  pleasanter 
was  a  life  of  freedom  than  one  of  toil ;  or  when, 
as  sometimes  happened,  Pokeberry  plied  him 
with  a  fiery  liquid  from  a  stone  jug  which  lay 
in  his  boat  hidden  among  the  reeds.  Then,,  in- 
deed, the  breath  of  far-off  African  jungles 
seemed  to  breathe  about  the  stalwart  young 

62 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

negro  and  savage  instincts  which  had  been 
growing  dormant  for  generations  began  to  stir 
within  his  breast,  while  the  man  with  the  deep 
scar  in  his  throat  sat  before  him  and  with  keen, 
hard,  cold  eyes  painted  his  wrongs  and  woes. 
Once  or  twice  Dick  had  almost  yielded;  but 
when  the  morning  came  the  toilsomeness  of  the 
long  journey  which  Pokeberry  had  painted  as 
necessary,  made  him  pause  and  the  memory  of 
the  old  plantation  with  its  joys  held  him  back. 
There  was  one  other  thing.  Pokeberry  had 
suggested  that  it  might— indeed  would  be 
necessary  for  Dick  to  pass  himself  off  as  his 
slave.  This  degradation  sank  deep  in  Dick's 
mind.  Like  the  other  servants  at  Landon  Hall 
he  had  always  prided  himself  on  belonging  to  a 
gentleman.  The  shame  of  passing  himself  off 
as  belonging  to  one  who  not  only  was  not  of  the 
quality,  but  was  actually  the  most  despised  man 
in  his  region,  staggered  him.  So  although  again 
and  again  he  appeared  to  Pokeberry  on  the  eve 
of  assenting,  as  often  as  the  time  came  for 
their  departure  Dick  refused.  Finally  came  the 
rupture.  A  story  came  back  to  the  negroes 
of  the  neighborhood  that  one  of  the  men  whom 
Pokeberry  claimed  to  have  helped  to  freedom 
was  working  in  the  far  South  in  a  far  worse 

63 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

slavery  than  lie  had  ever  known  in  his  old  home. 
When  Pokeberry  insisted  on  Dick's  standing 
up  to  his  agreement  and  threatened  him  with 
betrayal  of  his  hiding  place,  Dick  in  return 
threatened  to  give  himself  up  voluntarily  and 
tell  what  Pokeberry  had  held  out  to  him.  There 
was  a  furious  quarrel  with  Pokeberry  gripping 
his  gun  hard  with  an  ugly  look  in  his  eyes. 
Presently,  however,  he  quailed  and  with  a  laugh 
began  to  curse  Dick  in  a  jocular  tone  for  being 
such  a  fool  as  to  take  his  words  seriously.  The 
quarrel  was  patched  up  by  means  of  a  fresh  jug 
of  liquor  from  Pokeberry 's  boat  and  the  night 
ended  with  Dick  in  a  stupor. 

When  Dick  came  to  he  was  lying  fast  bound 
in  a  little  covered  wagon,  into  which  were  peer- 
ing a  number  of  curious  faces.  Pokeberry  was 
talking  to  some  one  on  the  roadside.  "He  was 
jest  gettin'  ready  to  cut  out  when  I  got  him  and 
fact  is  I  had  to  make  him  think  I  was  helpin' 
him  off  to  get  him  at  all. ' ' 

"You  must  a  wasted  a  jag  o'  good  liquor  on 
him,"  said  some  one  of  the  bystanders. 

1 '  Oh,  I  knew  how  to  get  him.  '  There  's  more 
ways  of  killin'  a  dog  than  chokin'  him  to  death.' 
You  can  get  some  one  way  an'  some  another,  but 
most  of  'em  tumbles  to  liquor." 

64 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"Specially  to  yours,  Pokeberry,"  observed 
one  of  the  others,  at  which  there  was  a  laugh 
and  Pokeberry  growled,  and  started  his  thin 
horse,  while  Dick  swore  vengeance  against  him 
in  his  heart. 

They  had  not  proceeded  very  far  when  the 
cart  stopped  and  Pokeberry  accosted  some  one. 

"Good  evenin'  Miss.    How  's  yo'  grandpa?" 

"Very  well,  thank  you,"  said  a  voice  which, 
notwithstanding  its  coldness,  Dick  recognized  as 
that  of  Dr.  Browne's  grand-daughter.  She  was 
about  to  pass  on,  but  Pokeberry  was  barring 
her  way  in  the  road. 

"You  '11  be  glad  to  know  I  Ve  caught  that 
runaway  nigger  't  's  always  hanging  around  the 
pond  down  yonder.  I  got  him  here  in  my  cart, 
takin'  him  home,  where  he  '11  git  a  good  dressin' 
down." 

Curiosity  and  pity  combined  at  the  cruel 
speech  and  Dick  was  conscious  that  -a  head 
leant  forward  and  a  pair  of  eyes  different 
from  any  that  had  fallen  on  him  that  day  rested 
on  him.  As  the  girl  caught  sight  of  the  cords 
on  Dick's  wrists  and  ankles  she  wheeled  sud- 
denly on  the  driver,  her  timidity  all  vanished. 

"You  brute!  How  can  you  be  so  cruel!  Do 
65 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

you  not  see  he  is  suffering!  Untie  him  in- 
stantly or  I  myself  will  do  it." 

Pokeberry  laughed  hoarsely,  "I  'ma  brute, 
am  I?  Suffering  is  he?  You  think  so!  Wait 
till  they  sell  him  down  South  on  one  of  them 
sugar  plantations  where  you  come  from,  then 
he  '11  know  what  sufferin'  is.  You  ask  your 
grandpa.  He  can  tell  you  about  it." 

"Oh!  don't  you  see  how  that  rope  is  cutting 
his  writs!  Look  how  his  hands  are  swollen. 
Loosen  them,  I  say.  Set  him  free."  She  spoke 
imperatively,  but  Pokeberry  knew  his  hour  of 
triumph. 

' '  That  's  right.  That  's  the  way  your  grand- 
pa would  talk.  He  's  always  for  settin'  'em 
free.  But  I  'm  a  respectable  citizen.  I  ain't 
any  abolitionist  and  I  '11  show  'em  now.  If 
he  don't  lay  still  in  there  I  '11  tie  him  tight  sure 
'nough.  Well,  so  long.  I  '11  keep  you  informed 
how  your  friend  gits  on.  Git  up."  He  gave 
his  horse  a  cut  with  his  switch  and  started 
on  again  with  a  mocking  laugh,  leaving 
the  young  girl  standing  in  the  road  a  picture 
of  helpless  sympathy  and  baffled  indignation. 
But  though  the  runaway's  hands  and  feet  were 
swollen  they  did  not  hurt  him  so  much.  That 

66 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

look  of  pity  and  those  warm  words  of  com- 
passion had  been  a  balm  to  his  wounded  spirit 
which  had  dragged  the  pain  from  his  limbs 
and  racked  head.  And  though  as  the  cart  toiled 
on  down  the  sandy  roads  the  tears  stole  from 
under  his  tightly  shut  lids,  they  were  rather 
the  tears  of  self-compassion  than  of  suffering, 
and  he  blessed  the  young  Samaritan  in  his  heart 
as  much  as  he  cursed  his  betrayer  and  captor. 

One  other  thing  added  to  his  misery.  He 
had  to  face  the  shame  of  being  driven  up  to  the 
overseer's  house  near  the  quarters,  tied.  He 
foresaw  the  public  triumph  of  his  enemy,  the 
curiosity  of  his  friends,  and  saw  himself  an  ob- 
ject of  their  amusement  and  ridicule.  He  knew 
that  there  were  many  who  would  be  glad  of  his 
humiliation— who  had  not  the  courage  to  run 
away  and  were  quite  content  with  their  lot, 
which,  indeed,  to  him,  bound  like  a  calf  and 
driven  towards  an  unknown  fate,  suddenly  ap- 
peared as  tranquil  and  blessed  as  Heaven.  In 
his  self-pity  he  hoped  he  would  die  before  he 
reached  home  with  its  curious  eyes  and  con- 
temptuous giggles  over  his  misfortune  and  he 
vaguely  tried  to  think  how  he  might  kill  him- 
self ;  but  as  the  cart  turned  in  at  the  plantation 
gate  and  began  to  make  its  way  slowly  across 

67 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

the  wide  field,  his  tension  relaxed  and  he  fell 
into  an  uneasy  doze. 

He  was  aroused  by  hearing  his  master's 
voice.  "What  's  that?  You  have  caught  my 
runaway  negro!  Very  well.  Where  did  you 
get  him?  He  's  a  trifling  scoundrel— I  shall 
have  to  sell  him,  I  expect.  How  is  he?  He  's 
not  sick,  I  hope?" 

"No,  s'r.  He  's  all  right.  I  got  him  last 
night— been  layin'  for  him  a  long  time.  He 
was  gittin'  ready  to  try  to  git  off  to  New  York 
or  Philidelphy— that  's  the  way  I  got  him." 

Dick  made  a  convulsive  movement  to  sit  up 
and  denounce  the  liar,  but  he  was  too  slow. 

"What!  Run  off  to  the  North!  Well,  I  '11 
just  get  rid  of  him— I  '11  send  him  to  New  Or- 
leans; better  than  New  York  or  Philadelphia, 
anyhow,  for,  at  least,  he  '11  get  enough  to  eat 
and  won't  freeze  to  death." 

Dick's  eyes  shut  tight  with  a  sudden  spasm. 
He  was  glad  he  had  not  looked  at  his  master. 

"Why,  where  did  that  boy  learn  of  those 
towns!"  exclaimed  the  Major,  after  a  second's 
reflection.  "I  did  not  know  that  he  knew  there 
were  any  such  places  in  the  world." 

Pokeberry  was  ready. 

"Well,  they  's  one  way:  your  neighbor  yon- 
68 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

der  's  owns  part  of  your  old  place.  I  guess  he 
knows  about  Philadelphia  an'  New  York  and 
Boston,  too. 

"That  's  true.  He  's  a  perfect  pest.  I  wish 
we  could  get  rid  of  him.  He  '11  have  every 
thing  by  the  ears  here  if  he  stays  much  longer. 
Well,  take  that  rascal  to  the  house  and  turn  him 
over  to  the  overseer. 

"Yes,  s'r,  and  he  '11  attend  to  the  business  I 
suppose!  I  had  right  smart  trouble  and  been 
at  a  good  deal  of  expense—"  began  Pokeberry 
doubtfully— "of  course." 

Dick  was  conscious  of  his  master's  approach 
to  the  cart.  He  gave  a  little  convulsive  twitch 
of  his  arms. 

The  next  instant  the  Heavens  opened. 

"It  seems  to  me  you  have  him  tied  very 
tight,"  began  the  Major.  Then  his  voice  sud- 
denly changed.  ' '  Why,  man,  d n  your  soul ! 

get  in  that  cart  and  undo  those  ropes  in- 
stantly. Why,  you  have  nearly  cut  that  boy's 
hands  off.  Instantly,  don't  you  hear  me?" 

Tears  again  began  to  flow  from  under  Dick's 
closed  lids ;  but  they  were  checked  for  a  moment 
by  his  captor's  surly  protest. 

'  '  You  better  look  out.  He  's  right  dangerous 
— I  had  a  heap  of  trouble  gittin'  him." 

69 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

"Dangerous!       The     D 1!"     cried     the 

Major.  "I  'd  like  to  know  how  you  ever  cap- 
tured him  if  he  was  more  dangerous  than  one 
of  my  sheep. ' ' 

The  snarl  that  Pokeberry  gave  was  a  solace 
to  the  negro  in  the  cart;  for  it  was  one  of  the 
pet  theories  on  the  plantation  that  Pokeberry 
was  a  pig  and  sheep-stealer. 

The  Major's  temper,  however,  now  admitted 
of  no  delay.  His  voice  had  risen  till  it  had  in 
it  the  crack  of  a  whip,  and  as  he  poured  his 
wrath  out  on  the  negro-hunter  his  sarcasm 
stung  like  a  lash.  He  declared  that  he  would 
rather  never  have  recovered  his  negro  than 
have  had  one  of  his  servants  treated  like  a  brute 
by  a  brute  of  a  butcher. 

The  captor  scowlingly  loosed  Dick  from  his 
bands,  making  a  final  plea  for  his  reward.  To 
which  the  Major  scornfully  assented,  declaring, 
however,  that  he  had  learned  a  lesson  and 
would  never  again  offer  a  reward  if  his  whole 
plantation  ran  away. 

The  transformation  in  the  negro  was  remark- 
able. No  sooner  was  he  released  than  he  strug- 
gled to  his  feet  and  grasping  the  Major's  hand 
shook  it  violently,  declaring  with  every  assever- 
ation that  he  was  the  best  master  in  the  world 

70 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

and  that  lie  would  never  again  run  away,  not  if 
every  other  man  in  the  world  tempted  him. 

The  Major  shook  him  off,  giving  him  over  his 
broad  shoulders  a  half  amused  cut  with  his  rid- 
ing whip  and  ordering  him  to  go  to  the  house. 
"Or  wait,"  he  called,  as  he  rode  away,  "per- 
haps you  had  better  keep  out  of  the  way  till  I 
return,"  to  which  the  negro  with  a  low  bow 
responded, 

"Yes,  suh;  thankee  masteh,  I  'se  gwine  to  do 
dat  very  thing,"  and  with  a  muttered  vow  of 
revenge  against  Pokeberry  he  ran  off.  "I  'se 
gwine  to  git  even  wid  you  if  I  has  to  live  a  hun- 
derd  years,"  he  muttered. 

An  hour  later,  when  Major  Landon  rode  up  to 
his  door,  Dick,  in  a  clean  shirt,  stood  at  his 
horse's  head  as  though  he  had  risen  from  the 
ground. 


71 


VII 


THE  eight  years  spent  by  Bruce  Landon  at 
school  and  college  had,  for  Bruce,  borne 
fruit  in  many  ways.  In  none,  however,  more 
than  in  the  change  in  the  relationship  between 
himself  and  his  father.  As  soon  as  they  were 
separated,  and  the  friction  of  wills  was  want- 
ing, they  became  great  friends  and  mutual  ad- 
mirers. Bruce  could  not  but  admire  the  stern 
character  of  the  old  gentleman,  who  was  inflex- 
ible in  purpose,  indomitable  in  will,  and  trans- 
parently honest  in  every  word  and  act,  however 
intolerant  he  might  be  and  constitutionally  in- 
capable of  yielding  his  opinion  once  formed  on 
any  subject.  On  the  other  hand,  the  high  char- 
acter of  the  boy,  and  the  brilliant  stand  he  had 
taken  from  the  first,  which  he  maintained  until 
he  graduated  with  distinguished  honors,  had 
caused  his  father  very  early  in  his  course  to 
forgive  his  boyish  waywardness,  and  almost  to 
overlook  the  infractions  of  collegiate  discipline 
which  were  reported  to  him  from  time  to  time 
with  more  or  less  frequency.  It  was  only  when 

72 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

Bruce  was  at  home  for  the  holidays,  and  the 
two  were  thrown  together,  that  their  wills  came 
in  conflict.  It  was  soon  apparent  to  both  that 
the  safest  way  to  preserve  the  delightful  rela- 
tions between  them  was  to  remain  separated. 
Thus  it  was,  that  Bruce  was  at  home  very  little 
during  the  eight  years  of  his  school  and  college 
life,  and  usually  spent  his  vacations  in  travel. 
When,  therefore,  he  finally  came  home,  he  was 
almost  a  stranger. 

As  the  carriage  rolled  up  to  the  front  door, 
and  Bruce  sprang  out  on  the  sanded  walk,  his 
father  and  mother  both  came  running  out  to 
meet  him,  and  both  folded  him  in  their  arms, 
while  the  servants  formed  a  half  ring  in  the 
back-ground  with  their  shining  teeth  and  pleas- 
ant faces  wishing  him  a  hearty  welcome.  It 
was  the  only  time  Major  Landon  ever  so  far 
unbent. 

The  straight  boy  had  become  a  tall,  straight 
man,  muscular  and  clean  as  a  race-horse. 

As,  after  the  custom  of  the  Landons,  on  the 
day  he  was  twenty-one  he  stood  for  measure- 
ment on  the  threshold  of  the  wide,  wainscoted, 
picture-hung  hall,  with  his  back  to  the  old  mas- 
sive mahogany  front-door,  where  the  Landons 
for  generations,  on  attaining  their  majority, 

73 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

had  been  measured  for  height  and  breadth, 
there  had  hardly  been  one  in  all  the  list  who  had 
equalled  him. 

"Why,  Bruce,  you  are  the  champion  of  three 
generations ! ' '  exclaimed  his  mother,  looking 
up  at  his  mark  with  pride. 

"No;  there  have  been  several  as  tall;  and 
one,  the  old  general,  my  grandfather,  was  taller 
and  broader,7'  corrected  his  father,  examining 
the  door  closely  for  the  almost  obliterated 
marks.  The  young  man  cast  his  eyes  across  the 
hall  at  the  painting  of  his  ancestor  dressed  in 
the  military  dress  of  Marlborough  's  time. 

"He  was  a  pretty  good-looking  fellow,"  he 
said,  with  lazy  admiration. 

"So  is  his  descendant,"  smiled  his  mother. 

"We  got  our  height  and  our  tempers  both 
from  him,  did  n't  we!" 

"No,  sir;  we  may  have  got  our  stature  from 
him,  but  we  got  our  tempers  from  the  devil," 
replied  the  Major.  "No  one  but  the  devil  can 
ever  be  held  responsible  for  such  devilish  tem- 
pers." 

"I  quite  agree  with  you,"  said  the  young 
man,  complacently. 

"I  am  pleased  to  receive  the  intelligence," 
replied  the  old  gentleman,  with  a  twinkle.  "I 

74 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

believe  it  is  the  first  time  my  views  have  ever 
received  such  a  compliment. ' ' 

1  i  Oh,  no !  we  both  agree  in  admiration  of  this 
lady,  sir, M  said  Bruce,  putting  his  arm  around 
his  mother.  Mrs.  Landon  smiled  up  at  him, 
and  the  Major  looked  pleased  at  the  delicate 
turn. 

"  There  's  where  you  get  your  beauty, "  said 
Mrs.  Landon,  pointing  across  the  hall  to  a  full- 
length  portrait  of  a  lady,  quite  young,  in  rich 
brocade,  with  the  long  waist  and  satin  petticoat 
of  two  generations  before.  The  clear-cut  face, 
with  its  dark  eyes,  was,  indeed,  beautiful,  and 
would  have  been  perfect,  but  for  the  haughtiness 
which  shone  even  through  the  painter's  art. 

' i  I  know  where  I  got  my  beauty, ' '  said  Bruce, 
leaning  down  and  kissing  his  mother.  Mrs. 
Landon  blushed  like  a  girl. 

' '  But  my  grandmother  was  a  beauty,  was  n  't 
she?" 

He  went  over  and  examined  the  portrait 
critically. 

"It  's  good  enough  for  a  Kneller,"  he  said. 
"And  that  patrician  face  and  old  costume  make 
her  look  like  a  young  countess.  One  might 
fancy  her  turning  her  back  on  the  prince  him- 
self." 

75 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

"She  would  have  done  it,"  said  his  father. 
"She  turned  her  back  on  the  President.  He 
had  not  stood  up  to  your  grandfather.  It  lost 
my  father  the  senatorship.  But  he  always  said 
it  was  cheap  for  the  price." 

Bruce  found  himself  in  a  new  life,  almost 
wholly  unknown  to  him.  He  had  suddenly  be- 
come the  companion  of  the  man  who  had  always 
been  to  him  the  incarnation  of  pride  and  re- 
serve. His  father  seemed  not  able  to  let  him 
get  out  of  his  sight.  If  he  went  only  to  the 
stables,  he  invited  him  to  come  with  him.  He 
told  him  of  all  his  affairs ;  talked  over  the  poli- 
tics of  the  county  with  him ;  consulted  him ;  de- 
ferred to  him.  At  the  same  time,  he  was 
treated  like  a  distinguished  guest.  It  was  very 
new  and  very  pleasant  to  him.  The  best  wine 
was  brought  from  the  cellar :  Madeira  imported 
by  his  grandfather.  The  Major  insisted  on  his 
riding  his  saddle-horse,  and  he  himself  rode 
another.  No  compliment  could  have  been  more 
marked  and  Bruce  knew  it.  At  last  the  wide 
gap  between  them  had  been  bridged  and  father 
and .  son  found  mutual  delight  in  each  other 's 
presence;  for  in  the  new  relation  each  avoided 
the  subject  where  there  might  be  a  chance  of 
difference. 

76 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

These  years  had  wrought  little  appreciable 
change  in  the  old  neighborhood  that  included 
the  two  sides  of  Newfound.  For  there  the 
world  moved  slowly  and  without  much  more 
evidence  of  change  than  the  sluggish  current 
of  the  mill-pond  which  one  had  to  watch  care- 
fully to  observe  any  perceptible  movement  in 
it.  Even  the  lines  in  Major  Landon's  face  had 
scarcely  deepened  and  certainly  Mrs.  Landon's 
placid  brow  was  as  unclouded  as  it  was  when 
Bruce  went  off  to  school. 

Perhaps,  the  chief  change  was  simply  the 
marked  increase  in  the  suspicions  held  of  the 
singular  tenant  of  the  old  Landon  Hill  place. 
Even  this,  however,  was  a  natural  growth.  It 
had  only  deepened  as  the  gullies  had  deepened 
with  the  washing  of  the  ever  recurrent  rains, 
or  as  the  pines  had  grown  enfolding  the  old 
place  with  its  occupants  in  an  ever  deeper  se- 
clusion. 

This  feeling  had  undoubtedly  been  fostered 
by  certain  occurrences  which  had  taken  place 
in  this  period.  The  new  revival  of  the  ques- 
tion of  the  Abolition  of  Slavery;  the  active 
propaganda  carried  on  outside  of  the  slave- 
holding  section,  under  an  instinct  of  philan- 
thropy, no  doubt,  but  one  little  appreciated 

77 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

where  it  took  away  property,  to  set  at  naught 
the  fugitive  slave  laws;  and  the  occasional 
penetration  of  the  agents  of  the  Abolitionists 
into  the  heart  of  the  States,  with  the  rumors 
which  ever  followed  thereon,  served  to  keep 
suspicion  alive  where  there  was  the  least  ap- 
parent ground  for  it. 

Certain  of  these  agents  of  the  Abolitionists 
had  been  apprehended  in  a  neighboring  county 
and  public  feeling  was  at  a  high  tension.  All 
meetings  by  the  negroes  were  discountenanced. 
The  appearance  of  every  stranger  was  jealously 
observed  and  he  was  expected  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  himself. 

This  feeling  about  the  mysterious  occupant 
of  the  old  Landon  place  on  the  other  side  of 
Newfound  had  been  largely  augmented  by  the 
efforts  of  Pokeberry  Green.  Pokeberry  re- 
membered a  certain  transaction  of  his  not  many 
years  back  in  which  he  had  had  a  narrow  escape 
while  pursuing  his  hazardous  calling.  He  had 
just  succeeded  in  landing  a  too  confiding  negro 
in  the  hands  of  a  negro-trader  in  the  far  South 
when  a  certain  Dr.  Browne  had  come  along  and 
had  recognized  the  man  as  the  slave  of  some 
friend  of  his  and  it  had  come  near  putting  an 
end,  at  least  temporarily,  to  Pokeberry 's  trade. 

78 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

Sometimes  he  shivered  at  the  close  graze  he  had 
had.  He  recalled  the  tall  old  man  coming  in 
just  as  he  had  gone  for  his  money  and  the  tor- 
rent of  wrath  he  had  poured  out  on  the  negro 
trader.  He  had  just  time  to  escape  before  the 
police  came  and  even  so  he  had  lost  the  fruit 
of  his  toil.  Fortunately,  he  had  gone  under  a 
different  alias  from  that  by  which  he  was  known 
on  Newfound.  But  he  had  met  the  old  man  for 
a  moment  face  to  face  and  had  looked  into  his 
eyes.  He  knew  now  that  it  was  Dr.  Browne, 
the  recluse  of  Landon  Hill.  He  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  watch  for  him  and  this  was 
the  man.  He  was  afraid  that  if  they  ever  met 
again  he  himself  would  be  recognized.  Clearly 
it  would  not  do  to  let  the  old  man  see  him. 
If  any  one  had  to  leave  the  county  he  preferred 
that  it  should  be  Dr.  Browne.  The  only  thing 
that  stood  in  the  way  of  this  solution  was  that 
it  would  gratify  Major  Landon. 

A  DAY  or  two  after  his  arrival  Bruce  was 
lounging  in  an  easy-chair  in  the  hall,  looking 
over  some  fishing-tackle  which  he  had  exhumed. 
His  mother  was  near-by  engaged  in  some  little 
household  occupation ;  but  with  her  smiling  eyes 
mainly  directed  towards  her  son.  Her  real  oc- 

79 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

cupation  was  enjoying  the  sunlight  of  her  boy's 
presence.  The  Major  came  in  fuming.  His 
neighbor's  cows  were  in  his  corn. 

"In  there  again !"  he  said  to  his  wife  as  he 
laid  his  gloves  and  whip  carefully  on  a  table 
to  one  side.  "I  believe  he  thinks  my  cornfield 
belongs  to  him.  I  have  stood  it  too  long  al- 
ready. His  cows  have  been  living  on  me  for 
twenty  years,  and  now  I  am  tired  of  it. ' '  He  ad- 
dressed Bruce,  to  whom  it  seemed  like  an  echo 
from  the  past. 

"My  dear,  I  would  not  be  hasty,"  said  Mrs. 
Landon,  soothingly. 

"Hasty!  you  don't  call  it  ' hasty,'  when  I 
have  been  fattening  his  cattle  for  twenty  years, 
do  you?  He  takes  advantage  of  my  patience. 
They  graze  in  my  cornfield  as  if  it  were  nothing 
but  his  marsh-pasture,  sir.  But,  at  least,  I  Ve 
got  them  for  a  while.  I  Ve  made  Bailiff  have 
them  driven  up  into  my  barnyard,  and  there 
they  shall  stay  till  he  sends  for  them." 

He  was  speaking  to  Bruce  and  he  did  not 
mention  that  he  had  been  particular  to  give 
orders  that  they  should  be  well  fed. 

The  reference  to  the  pasture  or  the  marsh,  or 
something,  brought  up  to  Bruce  the  memory  of 
a  summer  evening  long  since ;  of  cow-bells  tink- 

80 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

ling  faintly,  and  of  drowsy  sounds  broken  by  a 
child's  voice.  How  long  ago  it  all  appeared! 

"What  ever  became  of  your  queer  old  neigh- 
bor across  the  river,  whose  fish  I  used  to  catch, 
in  defiance  of  the  Decalogue  1"  he  asked,  look- 
ing up.  "Is  he  dead?" 

"Dead!  No;  that  sort  don't  die.  That  is  he, 
now,"  said  his  father.  "It  is  a  pity  I  did  not 
let  you  catch  his  fish ;  I  Ve  have  got  at  least  that 
much  compensation,  for  he  has  been  pasturing 
his  old  cows  on  my  corn  ever  since.  He  drives 
them  over,  sir,  regularly." 

"Oh!  now,  my  dear,  you  know  he  does  n't 
do  that, ' '  urged  Mrs.  Landon. 

"Then  they  fly,"  said  the  Major,  dryly. 

"What  a  stir  there  used  to  be  about  it!"  said 
Bruce,  deep  in  reflection.  "I  remember  there 
used  to  be  a  lot  of  talk  about  his  being  an  Abol- 
itionist, or  in  some  way  connected  with  those 
cattle.  I  suppose  that  has  died  out!" 

"No,  nothing  of  the  kind.  At  least  two 
negroes  have  disappeared  from  plantations 
about  here  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  and 
I  have  grown  suspicious  that  that  old  fellow  is 
at  the  bottom  of  it.  In  fact,  I  feel  certain  of 
it." 

"Oh!  Now,  my  dear,"  put  in  Mrs.  Landon, 
81 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"you  do  not  feel  certain.    I  would  not  suspect  a 
man  of  such  a  vile  crime  without  further  proof. ' ' 
.  "I  feel  as  certain  as  I  can  without  actual 
proof.    That  fellow  Green— ' ' 

"I  heard  you  say  that  you  would  not  believe 
anything  that  creature  said  on  oath." 

The  Major  gave  an  exclamation. 

"That  's  what  a  man  gets  for  ever  making 
an  admission  to  his  wife.  It  is  always  brought 
up  against  him  at  the  wrong  moment." 

"But,  did  you  not  say  so!" 

"Of  course,  I  said  so,  and  I  would  not;  but 
—look  at  his  own  action.  Why,  he  is  as  secret 
as  a  ferret.  He  has  been  there  for  twenty  years 
and  I  have  never  had  a  glimpse  of  his  face 
once. ' ' 

"That  is  extraordinary,"  said  Bruce,  "I 
cannot  understand  it.  That  a  man  should  with- 
draw himself  from  all  intercourse  with  his 
kind  is  certainly  most  singular." 

"Yes,  and  make  it  up  by  insisting  that  his 
neighbors  shall  have  constant  intercourse  with 
his  kine!  That  is  what  I  object  to." 

Bruce  laughed. 

"I  wonder  you  stand  it,  sir,"  he  added,  com- 
ing to  the  present  issue.  "I  'd  break  it  up. 
I  Jd  sue  him.  I  'd  do  it  at  once." 

82 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVEE 

"I  'm  going  to  break  it  up.  I  '11  take  your 
advice.  I  will  give  orders  to  my  overseer  to  have 
a  warrant  served  at  once,"  said  his  father. 
"You  are  right.  It  will  be  tried  next  Saturday, 
at  Jones's  Crossroads.  You  'd  better  go  up; 
I  '11  give  you  the  case.  You  can  flesh  your 
maiden  sword.  I  'd  like  to  have  you  there." 

"No,  I  don't  know  that  I  will  take  the  case," 
said  the  young  man,  languidly;  "but  I  may. 
I  '11  go  up  and  see  the  fun,  anyhow.  I  should 
have  supposed  that  old  man  was  dead.  He  ap- 
peared very  feeble  the  only  time  that  I  ever 
saw  him.  There  was  something  very  myster- 
ious about  him. ' ' 

"No,  sir.  Dead!  Not  he.  He  has  com- 
promised with  the  devil  to  live  here  always,  and 
do  his  work  for  him,  I  believe.  I  have  always 
believed  he  was  in  some  way  implicated  in  the 
disappearance  of  the  negroes  that  have  gone 
off  from  this  neighborhood." 

"What  an  old  wretch  he  must  be!"  said 
Bruce,  sympathetically.  "What  ever  became 
of  his  little  granddaughter,  whose  head  was  so 
full  of  nonsense?  Has  she  ever  married?" 

"No;  my  neighbor,  Sam  Mills,  tells  me  that 
she  is  there  still.  I  have  never  seen  her.  She 
is  cracked,  tooj  has  a  school  or  something  for 

83 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

the  children  on  the  other  side,  as  though  it  were 
any  of  her  business  whether  they  are  taught  or 
not.  Sam  Mills  says  she  has  a  great  reputation, 
or  would  have,  except  that  she  keeps  herself 
shut  up  at  home  all  the  time.  An  excellent  man, 
Mills,"  he  explained  to  his  son.  "I  have  a  very 
high  esteem  of  him.  An  honest,  upright  man. 
The  fact  is,  sir,  there  never  was  a  braver,  bet- 
ter people  than  our  population,  around  through 
this  country.  That  fellow  has  all  the  instincts 
of  a  gentleman.  He  is  a  philosopher.  A  re- 
markable man,  sir.  We  agree  on  every  subject. 
Now,  if  we  had  him  as  magistrate! — " 

"She  was  a  beautiful  child.  By  Jove!  sir,  I 
believe  I  owe  her  my  education, "  laughed 
Bruce,  ignoring  the  tribute  to  his  neighbor, 
Mills.  "I  remember  I  swore  to  marry  her,  or 
something,  and  you  shipped  me  off  next  day, 
post  haste." 

"I  have  never  seen  her;  but  she  is  very  un- 
popular in  the  neighborhood;  at  least,  so  Mills 
tells  me.  She  is  trying  to  missionaryize  them. ' ' 

"I  fancy  they  need  it  badly  enough,"  said 
Bruce. 

"Not  at  all,  and  if  they  do  it  is  none  of  her 
business;  they  are  quite  satisfied.  They  have 
naturally  resented  her  airs.  It  seems  that  she 

84 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

thinks  herself  better  than  these  other  common 
people  around  and  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them." 

"Well—,"  said  Bruce  reflectively,  "they  are 
not  common  people— that  is  my  recollection.— 
I  remember  that  the  old  fellow  looked  like — a 
gentleman,"  he  added,  with  a  sudden  recalling 
of  how  much  he  had  reminded  him  of  his  father. 

The  Major  gave  a  sniff. 

"I  know  nothing  about  his  looks.  I  only 
know  they  give  themselves  a  great  many  airs 
and  our  people  resent  it. ' ' 

"Oh,  it  is  simply  prejudice,"  said  Mrs.  Lan- 
don.  "The  old  man  is  very  infirm,  and  she 
stays  at  home  to  take  care  of  him— that  's  all. 
People  are  so  uncharitable." 

"Why,  she  has  not  had  to  stay  at  home  for 
six  or  eight  years  on  that  account,  I  reckon ;  and 
I  am  not  so  well  satisfied  about  his  being  infirm. 
I  am  sure  as  to  his  moral  infirmity;  but  his 
bodily  health  is  good  enough,  and  too  good  for 
his  neighbors'  security.  If  he  had  been  a  gen- 
tleman, he  'd  have  let  me  have  that  old  place 
back.  I  offered  to  let  him  name  his  own  price. 
Why,  I  called  on  him  once,  sir,  and  he  never 
even—" 

"My  dear,"  interrupted  Mrs.  Landon,  to 
85 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

whom  the  tale  had  long  lost  the  charm  of  nov- 
elty, "I  thought  you  had  forgiven  him." 

"Forgiven  him!  No!  I  don't  believe  any 
one  forgives  unless  he  forgets,"  sniffed  the 
Major. 

"I  would  not  be  so  unchristian,"  said  his 
wife,  whose  face  wore  an  expression  of  bene- 
diction. "Any  one  might  suppose,  my  dear, 
from  hearing  you  talk  that  you  did  nothing  but 
cherish  malice  against  that  old  fellow,  yet  you 
are  always  defending  him  against  others  and 
when  he  was  ill  not  long  ago,  you  were  as  miser- 
able about  it  as  though  he  were  a  member  of 
the  family." 

"That  is  the  weakness  of  my  character," 
said  her  husband,  "and  even  if  my  worst  enemy 
is  sick,  I  would  not  wish  him  to  die  like  a  dog, 
without  having  a  doctor  to  kill  him  conven- 
tionally." 

"Do  they  still  keep  themselves  mewed  up  in 
their  fortress  as  they  used  to  do?"  inquired 
Bruce,  examining  a  line  critically. 

"Yes,  sir;  he  has  never  been  off  the  place 
since  he  came  there,  that  I  know  of,  except  at 
night,  and  his  daughter,  or  grand-daughter — 
whichever  she  is— confines  herself  in  the  same 

86 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

way.  They  stay  at  home  and  send  the  cows 
around. ' ' 

"Well,  it  's  nobody 's  business  except  their 
own,"  suggested  Mrs.  Landon. 

"Nobody's  business  I"  exclaimed  the  Major, 
hotly,  incontinently  abandoning  the  position  he 
had  taken  the  moment  before.  "Yes,  it  is,— 
it  's  everybody's  business  when  a  man  behaves 
in  that  extraordinary  way;  it  's  against  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  the  commonwealth !  If  it 
was  n't  for  that  lying  rascal  Pokebexry's  say- 
ing so,  I  'd  believe  that  the  reports  about  him 
are  true,  and  that  he  is  one  of  these  Yankee 
Abolitionists. ' 9 

"Why,  my  dear,  they  say  he  is  just  as  kind 
and  charitable  as  possible.  When  old  Mrs. 
Mills  was  sick,  he  used  to  go  over  there  every 
night  and  attend  her,  and  he  sent  her  medicine ; 
and  when  Mr.  Hackett  had  his  house  burnt — " 

"That  may  all  be  a  part  of  his  scheme.  It 
is  a  cheap  price  to  pay  for  security.  He  ought 
to  have  been  investigated  and  run  out  long 
ago,"  asserted  the  major. 

"I  thought  she  'd  have  married  before  this," 
said  Bruce,  irrelevantly.  "I  wonder  if  his 
grand-daughter  is  pretty?"  he  added,  address- 
ing the  question  generally. 

87 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"They  say  she  is  quite  a  beauty, "  said  his 
mother. 

"A  beauty!  No.  She  is  I  believe  rather 
good-looking,  but  I  never  heard  she  had 
beauty, "  sniffed  the  Major.  "They  say  that 
Pokeberry  Green  is  courting  her." 

"That  creature!  Why,  he  used  to  be  a  per- 
fect young  ruffian ! ' ' 

"He  is  now,"  said  his  father;  "a  ruffian,  a 
drunkard,  and  a  thief.  But  he  is  after  her,  I 
understand,— at  least,  there  's  some  story 
about  them." 

"Oh,  pshaw!"  said  Mrs.  Landon.  "I  did 
hear  that;  but  it  was  contradicted.  I  heard 
that  he  fancied  himself  in  love  with  her,  and 
had  even  ventured  to  speak  to  her  once  on  the 
road;  but  she  was  so  indignant  that  he  slunk 
away.  I  think  some  one  came  up." 

"That  's  the  reason  she  was  indignant,  I 
reckon,"  said  the  Major,  dryly. 

Mrs.  Landon,  with  a  woman's  instinct  to  de- 
fend her  sex,  repudiated  the  idea  warmly. 

Bruce  was  so  astonished  at  the  idea  of  Poke- 
berry  Green  being  the  victim  of  the  tender  pas- 
sion, that  he  led  the  conversation  off  to  him, 
and  the  Major  was  soon  engaged  in  telling  what 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

a  turbulent  element  in  the  neighborhood  he  had 
become. 

"He  is  the  greatest  scoundrel  unhung,"  he 
declared  in  conclusion.  ' '  I  am  confident  that 
he  is  a  professional  thief,  and  that  he  fools 
negroes  into  running  away  in  order  to  get  the 
reward  for  them  by  catching  them.  That  run- 
away rascal  of  mine  says  he  offered  to  take 
him  to  Philadelphia,  and  I  believe  him.  Some 
day  he  will  be  hung.  If  we  had  a  magistrate 
worth  a  button,  we  'd  have  been  rid  of  him  long 
ago.  But  what  can  you  do  with  such  a  fool  as 
old  Johnson?  Bray  him  in  a  mortar,  and  he  'd 
still  be  a  fool." 


89 


vm 

THE  Major  informed  Bruce  a  few  days 
later  that  he  had  acted  on  his  advice  and 
instituted  the  suit. 

He  told  Mrs.  Landon  in  the  strict  confidence 
of  their  chamber  that  Bruce  was  the  wisest 
young  man  he  ever  knew. 

6 '  He  reminds  me  very  much  of  you, ' '  he  said 
naively.  Mrs.  Landon  repaid  the  compliment 
by  declaring  with  equal  sincerity  that  he  was 
very  much  like  him. 

Bruce,  however,  was  suddenly  conscious  of 
a  feeling  of  regret  that  his  father  should  have 
been  so  hasty.  He  had  had  no  idea  of  being 
taken  so  literally.  He  determined  that  he  would 
dissuade  him  from  prosecuting  his  proceeding. 
When,  however,  he  undertook  this  task  he  found 
it  much  more  difficult  than  he  had  imagined. 
Having  taken  the  step  which  he  had  contem- 
plated so  long,  sufficient  energy  had  been  set  in 
motion  to  require  much  more  force  to  stop  it 
than  Bruce  could  bring  to  bear. 

An  afternoon  or  two  after  this,  Bruce,  wear- 
90. 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

led  with,  talking  over  and  advising  about  the 
pending  warrant  which  his  father  had  instituted 
against  his  neighbor  for  the  damage  inflicted 
by  his  cows,  had  taken  a  fishing-rod  and  saun- 
tered down  to  the  river.  He  tried  several  well- 
remembered  holes,  but  the  fish  would  not  bite, 
and  at  length  he  found  himself  wandering  in  a 
rather  listless  way  up  the  bank  under  the  trees, 
uncertain  whether  to  return  home  or  not.  Just 
where  a  path  went  down  to  the  water 's  edge 
he  discovered  a  boat  tied  to  a  small  gum-tree 
which  hung  over  the  bank,  and  he  determined 
to  try  the  fishing  on  the  other  side. 

As  he  paddled  across  the  pond  he  experi- 
enced something  of  the  exhilaration  of  boyhood. 
He  let  the  skiff  drift,  dipped  his  hand  down  in 
the  clear  water  and  let  it  ripple  against  his 
wrist,  thinking  of  the  old  days  when  he  had  so 
often  done  the  same  thing.  The  soft  summer 
air  just  touched  his  cheek  and  brought  the  odors 
of  the  woods  to  him  across  the  water  like  a  faint 
memory  of  a  land  he  had  once  known. 

On  the  other  side  he  tied  his  boat  and  climbed 
the  bank  to  hunt  for  the  old  fishing-hole  where 
he  had  caught  the  fish  that  afternoon  so  many 
years  ago.  When  he  had  reached  the  spot  he 
found  that  a  tree  had  fallen  over  the  bank,  and 

91 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

its  branches  lay  in  the  water,  destroying  all 
chance  of  sport  at  that  place.  So  he  retraced 
his  steps  and  started  up  the  pond  through  the 
woods.  As  he  proceeded  he  fell  into  the  path 
which  led  around  the  alder  thickets  by  the  old 
spring  at  the  foot  of  the  poplar,  and  a  sudden 
thirst  struck  him  to  drink  from  the  cool  depths 
which  bubbled  from  under  the  great  flat  rock. 
He  followed  the  track,  and  reaching  the  spring, 
flung  his  rod  on  the  ground.  A  gourd  brown 
with  age  and  use  lay  on  the  rock;  but  under  an 
impulse  guided  by  reminiscence  he  knelt  down, 
and  bending  over,  drank  from  the  spring  itself. 
He  remained  in  that  attitude  for  some  minutes, 
looking  into  the  clear,  dark  depths.  He  was 
drinking  at  the  spring  of  memory. 

How  long  ago  it  all  was ! 

When  he  rose,  he  did  not  leave  the  spot; 
but  sauntering  to  the  great  poplar,  he  flung 
himself  at  its  foot  and  gave  himself  up  to  rev- 
erie. The  sky  overhead  was  blue  and  fleeced 
with  long  white  films  of  cloud,  which  appeared 
quite  stationary,  and  the  dark  green  poplar 
boughs  above  him  were  unstirred  by  any  breeze. 
The  faint  melody  of  a  distant  cow-bell  in  the 
marsh  below  him  brought  back  his  boyhood  and 
filled  him  with  drowsy  content. 

92 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

He  was  aroused  by  hearing  a  light  step  be- 
hind him,  and  he  turned  his  head  and  looked 
around  just  as  the  "calush"  of  a  bucket  dipped 
into  the  water  reached  him. 

A  slender  young  woman,  dressed  in  a  plain 
light  calico  dress,  spotlessly  clean,  was  stoop- 
ing over  the  spring,  holding  her  skirts  back  with 
one  hand,  whilst  with  the  other  she  lifted  the 
dripping  bucket.  Bruce  could  not  see  her  face ; 
but  he  knew  she  was  young  from  the  pliant, 
supple  figure,  which  the  dress  fitted  closely,  the 
easy  pose,  the  plump  arm,  and  the  strong  grasp 
of  her  hand  on  the  bucket  as  she  lifted  it.  A 
large,  coarse  straw  hat  was  on  her  head ;  but  its 
plainness  was  relieved  by  a  loose  twist  of  some 
white  lawny  stuff  around  it,  tied  on  one  side  in 
a  great  bow-knot.  She  lifted  the  bucket,  and 
set  it  on  the  rock.  As  she  did  so,  her  hair,  sud- 
denly loosened,  slipped,  and  fell  down  on  her 
shoulders  in  a  rich  crinkling  mass.  She  re- 
moved her  hat,  and  began  to  coil  hei?  hair.  The 
curves  and  lines  of  her  figure  were  clearly 
marked,  from  the  small,  well-poised  head,  round 
neck,  and  fine  shoulders  to  the  delicate  ankle. 
She  was  as  straight  as  an  arrow.  Bruce  thought 
instinctively  of  a  Diana  he  had  once  seen, 
straight  and  yet  supple  as  a  willow  wand,  with 

93 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

her  slim  form  poised  on  her  shapely  feet  and 
her  face  earnest  with  the  ardor  of  the  chase. 
He  rose  to  his  feet  and  leaned  against 
the  poplar.  The  slight  noise  he  made 
caught  her  ear,  and  she  turned  quickly,  raising 
her  head.  At  the  sight  of  a  stranger  so  close  to 
her,  the  rich  color  fled  from  her  cheeks,  leaving 
them  a  sudden  white,  and  the  large,  dark  eyes 
widened  with  startled  surprise.  Bruce  recog- 
nized immediately  the  oval  face,  framed  in 
loose  masses  of  dim  gold;  but  he  saw  that  she 
did  not  know  him. 

Instinctively  he  took  off  his  hat,  and  ad- 
vanced with  a  smile,  thinking,  "By  Jove!  how 
pretty  she  is!" 

' '  How  do  you  do  ? "  he  said. 

She  drew  herself  up  for  a  second,  at  being 
approached  by  a  stranger.  Then  a  look,  at  first 
of  bewilderment,  and  presently  of  pleased 
recognition,  came  over  her  face.  It  was,  how- 
ever, not  unmixed  with  embarrassment ;  for  she 
blushed,  and  made  a  hasty  little  upward  move- 
ment of  her  hand,  as  if  to  arrange  her  collar. 

" Don't  you  know  me?"  he  said,  his  eyes  on 
her  face. 

( i  Yes. ' '  Her  eyes  were  as  level  as  his. 

"I  have  come  back." 
94 


f? 


"You  are  several  years  behind  your  time,"  she  said  calmly. 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

He  had  the  old  engagement  in  his  mind.  He 
meant  the  speech  to  put  them  on  the  old  friendly 
footing,  for  he  felt  that  it  was  a  kindness  to 
her;  and,  perhaps,  both  his  look  and  voice 
showed  it, 

"You  are  several  years  behind  your  time," 
she  said  calmly. 

"Yes,  I  am;  but  it  was  not  my  fault;  they 
sent  me  off  to  school." 

He  felt,  as  soon  as  he  had  given  an  excuse, 
that  he  had  made  a  mistake,  and  had  lowered 
himself  in  her  eyes. 

She  bowed  with  so  slight  an  inclination  that 
he  almost  hoped  she  had  not  heard  him. 

"You  have  been  at  school  some  time?" 

It  may  have  been  the  faintest  suggestion  of 
sarcasm  in  her  tone ;  it  may  have  been  the  slight 
curve  in  her  red  lip;  or  it  may  have  been 
Bruce 's  fancy;  but  he  felt  himself  flush. 

"I  have  never  been  home  for  any  length  of 
time,"  he  said. 

She  looked  at  him  calmly  and  her  eyes  seemed 
to  pierce  him. 

' '  At  least,  in  the  fishing  season,  I  mean ;  and 
this  is  the  first  time  since  that  afternoon  when 
you  were  a  little  girl,  and  came— hunting  for 

95 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

your  prince."  He  added  the  last  clause  tenta- 
tively. 

"I  have  grown  wiser  since  then,"  she  said 
quietly. 

"A  sadder  and  a  wiser  woman?"  he  sug- 
gested with  a  smile. 

"No,  not  sadder,  only  wiser.  Only  men  are 
sad  at  gaining  wisdom.  It  brings  women 
peace." 

"Have  you  never  found  the  prince?" 

"I  have  never  sought  for  him.  He  does  not 
exist. ' ' 

Bruce  felt  somehow  a  vague  regret.  He  had 
hoped  she  would  think  of  him  as  she  used  to 
do ;  though  he  also  hoped  she  did  not  divine  his 
thoughts.  He  wondered  at  his  embarrassment. 
He  was  accustomed  to  women,  especially  young 
women;  and  he  was  accustomed  to  have  them 
appreciate  any  attention  he  might  pay  them. 
He  felt  that  this  girl,  in  her  plain  dress  and  her 
coarse  straw  hat,  was  inferior  to  the  women  he 
was  accustomed  to,  and  to  himself.  It  was, 
therefore,  a  strange  sensation  to  find  himself 
wondering  what  she  thought  of  him,  and  hop- 
ing that  the  result  was  in  his  favor. 

"Do  you  know  you  are  very  pretty!"  he  said 
suddenly,  breaking  the  ice,  and  throwing  a  look 

96 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

of  admiration  into  his  eyes,  as  he  moved  a  step 
nearer  to  her.  He  intended  to  catch  hold  of 
her  hand,  and,  perhaps,  on  the  least  encourage- 
ment, to  kiss  her.  He  had  often  tried  the  same 
tactics  with  eminent  success.  He  held  that  every 
woman  would  be  pleased  to  accept  the  incense. 

She  drew  herself  up  slightly,  but  sufficiently 
to  stop  him. 

"Do  you  know  it  is  a  liberty  to  take  to  say 
that  to  a  woman  unless  you  know  her  well  ? ' ' 

Her  eyes  looking  straight  into  his  flashed, 
and  her  lips  were  compressed  with  sudden  re- 
sentment. 

Bruce  was  taken  quite  aback. 

"Confound  it!"  he  thought;  "I  wonder  if 
she  really  resents  it.  She  cannot.  It  is  not 
human. ' ' 

"It  is  not  usually  considered  a  deadly  in- 
sult," he  said,  with  an  attempt  at  a  smile,  try- 
ing to  cover  his  retreat,  but  feeling  very  silly. 

"I  suppose  not  to  the  women  to  whom  you 
are  accustomed  to  saying  it."  The  tone  was 
icy. 

It  put  him  on  the  defensive. 

"No;  I  don't  have  the  provocation  often.  I 
am  accustomed  to  saying  what  I  please,  and  to 
doing  what  I  please,"  he  added  audaciously, 

97 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

after  a  second's  pause,  looking  her  full  in  the 
eyes. 

The  girl  drew  herself  up,  and  gave  him  a 
look  of  defiance,  which  subsided  into  whart  ap- 
peared much  like  contempt. 

"I  have  to  go,"  she  said  quietly,  leaning  over 
and  taking  up  her  hat. 

'  '  May  n  't  I  go  with  you  ! ' '  asked  Bruce,  will- 
ing to  make  amends.  "Let  me  carry  your 
bucket." 

"No,  thank  you.    Good  evening." 

She  leaned  over  and  picked  up  her  bucket, 
and  without  deigning  another  glance  walked 
slowly  up  the  hill,  her  pliant  figure  swaying  a 
little  to  one  side  under  the  weight  of  the  bucket. 

Bruce,  leaning  against  the  poplar,  watched 
her  until  she  was  out  of  sight,  and  then  going 
to  his  boat,  crossed  the  pond,  and  went  home. 
As  he  walked  up  the  path  he  had  a  perplexed, 
absent  air,  as  of  a  man  who  had  sustained  a 
loss,  but  who  could  not  tell  just  what.  Who 
would  have  thought  to  find  Diana  at  that 
spring!  As  for  "Diana"  herself,  it  is  certain 
that  she  positively  hated  him  as  she  bore  her 
bucket  up  the  path  and  had  she  had  a  quiver  on 
her  straight  back,  would  have  shot  several  of 
her  sharpest  arrows  at  that  tall  young  fellow 

98 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

with  his  cool  gray  eyes  and  self-assured  way. 
She  would  show  him.  But  as  she  thought  it, 
her  heart  relented.  It  came  back  again  and 
again,  however,  and  she  sharpened  her  arrows 
every  time  she  thought  of  him. 

Bruce  made  up  his  mind  that  he  would  induce 
his  father  to  dismiss  his  warrant  if  it  were  pos- 
sible. It  would  serve  to  help  him  recover  the 
ground  which  he  felt  he  had  lost  with  Dr. 
Browne's  granddaughter.  He  found,  however, 
that  he  had  a  difficult  task  before  him.  The 
Major  Kke  many  another  man  had  reached  the 
position  where  he  confounded  his  personal 
feeling  with  a  public  duty. 

Moved  by  the  desire  to  withdraw  his  thoughts 
from  so  dangerous  a  quarter,  his  father  and 
mother  made  an  effort  to  interest  him  in  the 
social  life  of  the  neighborhood.  All  the  gentry 
within  reach  were  invited  to  come  and  "  spend 
the  day,"  and  sundry  pretty  girls  among  them 
fluttered  in  their  white  dresses  in  the  summer 
evenings  among  the  shrubbery  of  Landon  Hall. 
But  it  was  plain  to  Mrs.  Landon  and  she  made 
it  plain  to  the  Major,  that  Bruce,  however  much 
he  laughed  and  rode  and  sang  with  them,  re- 
mained untouched  by  the  sparkle  of  their  eyes 
or  the  cadences  of  their  soft  voices. 

99 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Then  Major  Landon,  having  failed  in  one  di- 
rection, tried  another  and  a  new  bait.  It  had 
always  been  his  ambition  to  have  his  house  once 
more  represented  in  public  life.  The  Landons 
with  their  prestige  and  intellect  were  well  fitted 
to  shine  in  public  life,  and  in  the  past  had  held 
high  official  station,  representing,  as  was  natural 
to  them  the  aristocratic  and  federal  side  of  poli- 
tical questions.  But  the  balance  had  shifted  a 
generation  before,  and  as  we  have  seen  from 
the  Major's  hint  to  Bruce  on  his  return  home, 
a  breach  had  come  between  Colonel  Charles 
Landon  and  the  head  of  his  party,  and  Bruce 's 
grandmother  had  publicly  cut  the  President  to 
the  final  destruction  of  her  husband's  political 
hopes,  but  to  his  vast  personal  gratification. 
The  chance  of  success  had  been  too  small  since 
then  for  the  Major  ever  to  enter  politics;  even 
had  he  not  settled  down  to  a  state  of  content 
too  profound  to  break  with  the  exactions  of  a 
political  canvass  where  he  must  conceal  his  de- 
cided views  or  at  least  modify  them  to  meet 
the  views  of  a  constituency  strongly  demo- 
cratic. Now,  however,  that  his  son  was  grown 
up  and  gave  promise  of  adaptability  and  popu- 
larity auspicious  of  future  success,  the  Major's 
dormant  ambition  awoke.  He  had  long  hoped 
that  Bruce  would  restore  the  lost  political  pres- 

100 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

tige  of  the  family  and  had,  indeed,  been  quietly 
preparing  for  this  coveted  end.  He  had  begun 
to  cultivate  certain  of  his  neighbors  who  dif- 
fered from  him ;  he  had  made  overtures  to  men 
who  bored  him.  He  had  even  repressed  his 
tendency  to  characterize  those  who  disagreed 
with  him  with  his  caustic  speech  which  burnt 
like  an  acid. 

The  time  had  now  come,  he  felt,  when  Bruce 
should  at  least  begin  to  prepare  for  the  career 
which  he  had  marked  out  for  him.  He  believed 
that  it  was  only  his  want  of  occupation  which 
had  made  him  of  late  distrait  and  indifferent  to 
his  surroundings.  A  suggestion  from  Mrs. 
Landon  that  Bruce  had  an  ambition  to  write  he 
scouted  with  disdain.  " Write  poetry!  Tell 
him  to  read  Dryden  and  Pope.  These  modern 
poets  either  give  milk  and  water  slops  like 
Tupper,  or  rank  infidelity  and  wickedness  like 
Byron.  I  ?d  rather  have  Landon  Hall  kept  up 
than  be  the  father  of  Milton. " 

He  had  no  doubt  that  this  suggestion  would 
bring  Bruce  to  his  senses  even  if  Mrs.  Landon 
had  not  with  her  maternal  partiality  rather 
overstated  Bruce 's  tendencies  and  desires. 

Accordingly  he  broached  to  Bruce  one  day 
the  subject  of  politics.  It  might  be  as  well  at 
the  outset  to  give  him  an  insight  into  a  few 

101 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 
plain  principles.  To  his  astonishment  Bruce 
announced  that  he  had  always  thought  of  enter- 
ing politics,  but  on  the  Democratic  side.  The 
Major  simply  gasped  and  for  a  moment  sat  in 
silence  overwhelmed  by  what  was  very  near  to 
emotion.  A  Democrat!  The  idea  was  so  pre- 
posterous, so  tragic,  that  his  mind  staggered. 
His  wrath  did  not  even  awaken,  or  at  least  was 
held  in  check. 

Bruce,  feeling  his  emotion,  said  with  a  cer- 
tain sympathy  and  with  real  affection,  "That 
is  the  reason  I  have  not  offered  to  take  any  ac- 
tive part  in  politics,  sir.  I  have  not  wished  to 
do  what  I  knew  would  give  you  any  pain. ' '  The 
Major's  reply  was  little  more  than  a  grunt, 
though  it  was  doubtless  intended  for  a  polite 
acceptance  of  his  son's  apology.  The  latter 
proceeded,  "I  believe  that,  as  the  Constitution 
says,  all  men  were  created  free  and  equal." 

"The  devil  you  do!"  snapped  the  Major.  "In 
the  first  place  the  Constitution  contains  no  such 
nonsense.  I  presume  that  you  refer  to  Thomas 
Jefferson's  high  sounding  pronunciamento  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  but  if  you  be- 
lieve that,  then  you  believe  a  bigger  lie  than 
even  Thomas  Jefferson  was  silly  enough  to 
commit  himself  to.  For,  at  least,  he  knew  from 
his  property-lists  that  all  were  not  born  as  free 

102 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEK 
and  as  socialistic  as  he  was  in  his  utterances, 
he  never  meant  to  say  they  were  all  created 
equal. ' ' 

Bruce,  in  some  confusion,  corrected  his  mis- 
take. He  meant,  of  course,  to  say,  he  explained, 
"created  equal"  and  he  could  not  hold  with  a 
party  that  created  class-distinctions.  This  was 
too  much  for  his  father. 

"I  'd  like  to  know  where  you  'd  be,  sir,  if  it 
were  not  for  your  derided  class-distinctions. 
In  the  name  of  Heaven!  Has  a  gentleman  no 
rights  which  the  rabble  need  respect!" 

"The  same  rights  with  all  others  under  the 
law." 

"And  pray,  sir,  who  made  the  laws?  Who 
wrung  them  from  a  despotic  tyrant  and  trans- 
mitted them  to  us  as  our  heritage?" 

"Well,  I  suppose  our  fathers  did,"  admitted 
Bruce,  whose  ideas  of  history  were  rather  hazy. 

The  Major  pressed  his  advantage. 

"I  suppose,  as  you  think  that  all  men  are 
born  free,  you  think  slavery  a  sin?" 

"I  do." 

The  answer  steadied  the  older  gentleman. 

"Bruce,  don't  be  a  fool,"  he  said  slowly. 
"Don't -you  go  and  fling  away  your  bread  and 
butter." 

He  rose  and  stalked  from  the  room. 
103 


IX 


BRUCE  took  to  fishing  industriously  after 
this ;  and  whether  it  was  that  the  fish  would 
not  bite  on  his  own  side  of  the  pond,  or  whatever 
the  cause,  he  availed  himself  fully  of  the  permis- 
sion given  so  long  ago  by  the  old  doctor,  and  every 
afternoon  found  him  lounging,  rod  in  hand,  up 
the  bank,  or  as  frequently  lying  on  the  ground  by 
the  spring  on  the  doctor 's  side  of  the  water. 

It  was  remarkable  how  often  he  became 
thirsty,  and  how  long  a  distance  he  would  walk 
to  drink  at  the  spring  that  bubbled  from  under 
the  rock.  Sometimes  he  spent  the  whole  after- 
noon lounging  in  the  shade  of  the  great  poplar. 
He,  however,  was  not  fortunate  enough  to  see 
Miss  Reid  again. 

Failing  to  meet  her  who  now  had  begun  to  be 
much  in  his  thoughts,  he  fell  to  a  resource  which 
had  stood  in  stead  even  that  ardent  youth  who 
haunted  the  forests  of  Arden.  In  other  words, 
he  indited  a  sonnet  to.  his  hard-hearted  and  shy 
young  nymph  and  stuck  it  as  though  casually 
on  a  twig  that  grew  beside  the  poplar  spring. 

104 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

It  cost  him  much  labor,  but  some  of  the  labor 

had  already  been  expended  in  previous  attempts 

to  celebrate  other  girls  during  his  college  days. 

It  ran  thus : 

TO  DIANA  AT  THE  SPRING 

In  aeons  old  when  life  was  young  and  sweet, 
Diana,  weary  of  the  eager  chase, 
Was  wont  to  seek  full  oft  some  trysting-place 
Well  loved  of  all  her  train— some  cool  retreat 
Of  crystal  founts,  deep -verdured  from  the  heat 
Of  sultry  noon,  wherein  each  subtle  grace 
Of  snowy  form  and  radiant  flower  face, 
Narcissus-like,    Goddess  and  nymph  might  greet. 

Diana  long  hath  fleeted  o'er  the  Main, 

The  founts  which  erst  she  loved  are  all  bereft; 

No  more  on  violet  banks  her  feet  are  set, 

Silent  her  silvern  bugle,  fled  her  train ; 

One  spot  alone  of  all  she  loved  is  left ; 

This  poplar-bowered  spring  is  Goddess-haunted  yet. 

This  effusion  did  not  altogether  satisfy  him, 
for  his  taste  was  fastidious  and  not  wholly  un- 
cultivated ;  but  he  took  much  pains  to  hang  the 
paper  on  a  bush  so  that  it  might  appear  to  have 
caught  there  carelessly.  He  felt  tolerably  sure 
that  Miss  Diana  would  see  it,  and  would  not  go 
far  wrong  in  her  guess  as  to  its  authorship. 

After  this  he  continued  to  fish  sedulously; 
105 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEK 

but  for  several  days  his  sonnet  hung 
on  the  twig  and  his  heart  sank.  Had  he  but 
known  it,  however,  though  the  paper  remained 
untouched  on  the  twig,  Miss  Diana  had  seen 
it  and,  in  fact,  had  copied  it  on  the  sly,  after 
looking  carefully  about  to  see  that  no  one  was 
observing  her.  Nor  had  she  much  doubt  as  to 
who  the  young  Orlando  was.  And  though  her 
very  well  chiseled  nose  took  the  least  upward 
turn,  it  is  possible  that  she  thought  more  of 
young  Orlando  than  she  had  thought  of  Bruce 
Landon  for  several  days. 

Thus,  her  thoughts  were  a  court  in  which  a 
gray-eyed  offender  was  continually,  every  few 
hours,  arraigned,  duly  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced, and  then  as  regularly  recommended  to 
mercy  and  pardoned. 

At  last  Bruce  reached  the  point  where  he  felt 
that  he  must  see  the  girl  he  had  offended. 

One  afternoon  he  had  been  up  to  the  spring 
as  usual,  and  had  spent  some  time  there  enjoy- 
ing the  quiet  which  was  broken  only  by  the 
crackling  of  leaves,  the  occasional  note  of  a  bird, 
and  the  sound  of  two  cow-bells  far  up  the  pond. 
The  bells  mellowed  by  the  distance  had  grown 
fainter  and  fainter,  and  had  finally  ceased.  He 
had  sauntered  up  the  stream  in  the  opposite 

106 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

direction  to  that  lie  usually  took.  He  had  with 
some  difficulty  crossed  a  small  creek  which  ran 
into  the  pond,  and  was  making  his  way  along  a 
little  path,  through  the  thick  growth  of  pines, 
gums,  alders,  and  other  bushes,  when  he  was 
almost  startled  to  meet  in  the  narrow  cowtrack 
an  old  negro  woman.  She  was  tall  and  thin, 
and  exceedingly  black ;  and  her  short  gray  hair 
peeped  out  from  under  the  pointed  white  hand- 
kerchief bound  around  the  top  of  her  head. 

Bruce  recognized  instantly  the  old  woman 
with  whom  he  had  had  the  interview  years  ago 
on  the  occasion  when  he  had  carried  the  fish  back 
to  Dr.  Browne.  She  had  evidently  been  walk- 
ing rapidly,  for  her  face  was  streaming  with 
perspiration.  She  was  startled  at  meeting  a 
stranger  there  in  the  woods ;  but  Bruce  greeted 
her  kindly,  which  seemed  to  set  her  at  her  ease. 
"Yo*  sarvent,  marster,"  she  said,  stepping 
out  of  the  path,  and  courtesying  with  a  quaint 
little  bend  at  the  knees. 

Bruce  spoke  to  her  kindly. 

"You  ain'  see  nuthin'  o'  no  cows  down  dat 
away,  is  you,  marster?"  she  asked  doubtfully. 

"No,  I  have  not,"  said  Bruce.  "I  heard  the 
cow-bells  over  that  way  somewhere,  a  half-hour 
or  more  ago."  He  indicated  the  direction  in 

107 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

which  he  was  going.     "Have  your  cows  bells 
on?" 

"Yes,  suh;  bofe  on  'em,"  she  said.  "I  done 
been  up  dat  away,  an'  ain'  see  nuthin'  on  'em. 
I  mightly  feared  dee  done  gone  crost  de  pawn 
an'  git  in  Mr.  Landon's  corn  agin;  but  I  ain' 
see  whar  dee  cross  nowhar,  up  dere."  She 
stood  still  in  evident  perplexity. 

"How  do  they  get  across!"  asked  Bruce. 

"I  'clar,'  marster,  I  don'  know.  They  's  jes' 
natch  el  rovers ;  they  git  whar  bud  can't  fly." 

"Why  do  you  let  them  run  down  here?"  in- 
quired Bruce.  "Why  do  you  not  keep  them 
up?" 

' l  Well,  to  tell  you  de  truf ,  marster, ' '  said  the 
old  woman,  simply,  "we  ain'  got  nuthin'  to 
feed  'em  on.  We  'bleeged  to  le'  'em  run  down 
heah.  Dee  's  all  de  'pendence  we  got.  You 
see,  ole  marster,  he  's  so  ailin '  now  he  cyarn  git 
'bout  to  do  nuthin';  an'  Folium — he  's  my  ole 
man,— he  so  cruppled  up  wid  rheumatis,  he 
cyarn  hardly  do  nuthin',  an'  all  he  kin  do  is  to 
wait  on  ole  marster,  an'  help  him  de  little  bit 
he  's  able  to  do,  an'  to  fish.  Sometimes  he  ketch 
some  right  smart."  She  said  this  almost 
pathetically.  "An'  de  cows  an'  de  chickens  is 
we  main  d 'pendence." 

108 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Bruce  put  his  hand  into  his  pocket  and  made 
a  mental  estimate  of  the  amount  of  change  he 
found  there. 

"We  did  n't  use  to  have  much  trouble  wid 
'em, ' '  she  went  on, ' l  so  long  as  dee  had  plenty  o ' 
grass  on  dis  side ;  but  now  dee  done  fine  de  way 
'cross  we  have  to  watch  'em  study  all  de  time. 
We  do  right  well  as  long  as  my  young  mistis 
or  I  one  kin  watch  'em;  but  ef  we  teck  our  eye 
off  'em  now,  dee  gone." 

Bruce  was  all  attention  now,  and  the  old 
woman,  with  feminine  instinct  recognizing  his 
sympathy,  was  glad  to  relieve  her  troubles  by 
imparting  them  to  another. 

' '  Dee  got  'way  de  other  day  when  ole  marster 
was  so  po'ly,  and  got  into  Mr.  Landon's  corn 
over  yonder,— right  over  'cross  de  pawn,"  she 
pointed,  "an'  he  meek  de  overseer  drive  'em 
up,  an '  put  'em  in  he  lot.  I  had  to  go  over  dere 
after  'em.  He  overseer  did  n't  warn'  le'  me 
have  'em  at  fust.  Teensey  she  went  back  right 
smart,  an'  Princess  she  gone  back  a  heap, — 
from  not  being  milked  reg'lar,  you  know?"  she 
explained. 

Bruce  nodded. 

"But  I  so  glad  to  fine  'em  an'  git  'em  back 
agin,  I  ain'  mine  nuthin'.  At  fust,  I  begin  to 

109 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

think  I  am'  gwine  git  'em  no  mo'  de  way  dat 
man  talk;  but  I  promise  him  faithful  I  would  n't 
le'  'em  git  in  de  corn  no  mo',  an'  den  he  le'  me 
bring  'em  long,  an'  he  sum'  ole  marster  'bout 
de  corn.  De  man  come  heah  one  day  las'  week 
an'  gi'  him  de  paper." 

She  turned,  preparatory  to  continuing  her 
search. 

"Wait  a  minute,"  said  Bruce.  He  paused 
irresolutely.  "How  do  you  live?"  he  asked 
abruptly. 

"Well,  we  got  some  chickens,  an'  we  sell  c\.e 
aigs  an'  de  butter,"  she  explained,  "an'  some- 
times we  ketch  some  fish." 

"Here,  let  me  give  you  something,"  said 
Bruce.  He  raked  up  all  the  change  in  his 
pocket,  and  handed  it  to  her,  half  shamefacedly. 

Her  thanks  were  mute  astonishment.  She 
looked  first  at  him,  and  then  at  her  hand,  full 
of  the  silver  he  had  given  her,  and  which  she 
held  out  half-way  to  him,  as  if  not  certain  that 
he  had  not  made  a  mistake. 

"Come  on;  I  will  help  you  find  your  cows," 
he  said.  "You  go  that  way,  and  I  will  go  this," 
and  he  plunged  ahead  through  the  bushes. 

He  found  in  the  search  a  new  pleasure.  It 
brought  back  the  zest  of  his  boyhood;  and  he 

110 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

went  in  and  out  along  the  edge  of  the  pond, 
examining  carefully  every  place  where  the  cows 
could  have  gone  down  to  the  water.  At  last  he 
came  on  their  tracks,  and  following  them,  found 
that  the  cows  had  gone  up  around  the  pond, 
and  had  crossed  over  near  its  head,  where  the 
water  was  shallow.  A  less  keen  eye  might  have 
missed  the  trail.  The  difficulty  of  getting  over 
was  considerable;  but  the  faint  jangle  of  bells 
reached  him  from  the  other  bank.  The  cows 
were  evidently  in  the  cornfield,  on  the  opposite 
side. 

As  Bruce  had  pledged  himself,  there  was  no 
help  for  it;  so,  after  going  up  a  little  higher, 
he  was  able  to  get  across,  though  not  with- 
out difficulty.  The  cows  were  found;  and 
after  an  exciting  chase  through  the  corn,  in 
which  a  great  deal  of  grain  was  trampled  down, 
Bruce  got  them  to  the  point  where  they  had 
crossed,  and  drove  them  back.  He  was  walking 
carefully  on  the  hummocks,  thinking  of  his  boy- 
hood when  he  tried  to  imitate  Dick  Runaway, 
and  was  nearly  over,  when  his  foot  slipped,  and 
he  went  down  into  the  water  to  his  waist.  He 
gave  expression  to  an  objurgation  at  the  cows, 
and  climbed  out,  dripping.  Just  then,  looking 
up,  right  before  him  on  the  bank  stood  the 

111 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

young  girl  he  had  met  before.  A  distressed  ex- 
pression was  on  her  face  and  Bruce  awoke  to 
a  sudden  sense  of  her  supreme  charm. 

"How  do  y.ou  do?"  said  Bruce,  feeling  that 
he  must  cut  a  sorry  figure. 

"Did  they  get  into  your  corn  again ?"  she 
asked.  "I  am  so  dreadfully  sorry.  We  will 
keep  them  up  hereafter. ' ' 

"No,  you  will  not,"  said  Bruce,  almost 
roughly. 

She  misinterpreted  his  reply.  "Indeed,  I 
will ;  it  was  an  entire  accident  that  they  got  away 
to-day.  My  grandfather  was  sick,  and  I 
just—" 

"I  don't  care  anything  about  that,"  said 
Bruce. 

She  misunderstood  him;  but  he  proceeded. 

"I  promised  your  old  woman  to  find  her  cows 
for  her,  and  as  they  set  the  fashion  of  wading, 
I  had  to  follow  it." 

She  said  "Thank  you"  so  cordially,  and 
added,  "I  'm  so  afraid  that  you  will  catch 
cold,"  so  solicitously,  that  Bruce  forgot  his  un- 
presentable appearance,  and  said: 

"I  don't  mind  it  the  least  bit.  When  I  was 
a  boy  I  used  to  know  every  foot  of  the  pond, 
and  I  have  hunted  often,  wet  to  the  skin,  almost 

112 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

for  days  at  a  time."  He  was  after  gaining 
time.  To  find  her  so  changed  in  her  manner  to 
him  had  suddenly  changed  the  world.  To  have 
her  leave  him  suddenly  looked  like  putting  out 
the  sun.  To  gain  a  respite  he  would  promptly 
have  changed  his  tone,  and  have  avowed  himself 
ready  to  die  with  cold.  She  started  up  the  path, 
and  allowed  him,  without  anything  being  said 
about  it,  to  walk  with  her  down  the  pond  under 
the  overhanging  boughs  of  the  willows,  taking 
the  easy  pace  at  which  the  two  cows  lazily 
sauntered  homewards  along  the  narrow  track, 
one  behind  the  other,  stopping  now  and  then  to 
browse  on  the  grass  or  young  bushes  beside  the 
way. 

Before  the  walk  was  over,  they  were  on  terms 
of  confidence.  Bruce  had  forgotten  the  differ- 
ence in  their  stations.  She  told  him  of  her  f  ond- 
ness  for  the  woods,  and  of  how,  as  a  girl,  she 
used  to  know  every  path  in  the  pines,  and  every 
nook  on  the  pond. 

1 1 1  used  to  like  to  fish, ' '  she  said ;  "but  I  don 't 
love  my  frogs,  and  I  cannot  handle  them  as  if 
I  did.  I  cannot  bear  to  see  the  poor  fish  strug- 
gling and  gasping  for  breath.  Besides  that, 
there  is  a  dreadful  man  who  comes  down  here 
sometimes  and  frightens  me.  He  seems  to 

113 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

haunt  the  place, "  she  explained.  She  had  met 
him  once  or  twice.  He  had  once  stopped  her, 
and  attempted  to  detain  her  in  conversation. 
She  described  him:  "He  has  a  great  purplish 
mark  across  his  throat,  and  looks  brutal  and 
insolent.  He  always  carries  a  gun." 

Bruce  had  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  Poke- 
berry.  As  she  lifted  her  eyes  with  the  timid 
expression  in  them,  born  of  the  recollection  of 
the  interview,  he  was  filled  with  a  suoden  desire 
to  throttle  the  brute  who  dared  to  frighten  her. 

Nothing  arouses  a  man's  tenderness  so  surely 
as  a  woman's  showing  fear,  and  yet  silently 
confiding  in  his  protection. 

I  will  see  that  you  are  not  molested  fur- 
ther," said  Bruce,  quietly.  His  heart  was 
bounding  at  the  thought  of  a  chance  to  counter- 
balance the  false  step  he  had  made  when  he 
induced  his  father  to  institute  his  suit. 

"Oh,  you  must  not  do  anything  to  him. 
Please  don't,"  she  said  quickly,  stopping  and 
making  an  earnest  little  gesture  of  entreaty 
towards  him.  "He  always  carries  a  gun,  and 
I  'm  so  afraid  he  would  shoot  you. ' '  She  looked 
at  him  with  anxious,  uplifted,  large  eyes. 

"I  will  take  care  that  he  does  n't  do  that," 
said  Bruce,  his  heart  leaping  with  pleasure. 

114 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"I  admire  courage  more  than  anything  in  the 
wo  rid, "  she  said  naively.  "I  suppose  it  is  be- 
cause I  am  so  afraid  of  everything  myself.  I 
remember  I  used  as  a  child  to  make  myself  per- 
form things  that  I  was  afraid  of,  just  to  have  the 
sense  of  overcoming  my  fear." 

Bruce,  with  a  look  of  admiration  in  his  eyes, 
asked  what  sort  of  things  she  referred  to. 

"Why,  I  remember  once  making  myself  go 
to  the  old  graveyard  in  the  dark.  I  was  dread- 
fully afraid  of  the  dark.  I  was  in  a  terrible 
fright.  Ugh!"  She  gave  a  little  shiver  at  the 
recollection.  "The  grape-vines  hanging  down 
from  the  old  trees  were  in  the  dark  all  like 
snakes.  They  just  crawled  and  made  a  noise.  Of 
course  it  was  only  the  leaves  rustling,  but  I  was 
such  a  coward  I  nearly  fainted.  It  was  so 
creepy.  And  occasionally  I  have  had  to  go  at 
night  to  carry  things  for  my  grandfather  to  peo- 
ple about  here." 

1 '  What  sort  of  things  1 ' '  asked  Bruce,  remem- 
bering the  stories  he  had  heard. 

"Medicines  and  food."  Her  simplicity  made 
Bruce  ashamed  of  his  question. 

Bruce  had  a  look  in  his  eyes  which  showed 
what  he  thought  of  such  cowardice.  He  for  the 
first  time  noted  the  firm  lines  about  her  mouth 

115 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

and  chin.  Somehow,  they  reminded  him  of  his 
father.  He  said  to  her : 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  Marshal  Turenne  say- 
ing of  his  knees,  which  were  trembling  as  he 
mounted  his  horse  to  command  in  a  great  battle, 
that  if  they  knew  where  he  was  going  to  take 
them  that  day  they  would  shake  more  than  they 
were  shaking  then?'7 

"Oh!  it  was  not  courage  in  me,"  she  smiled; 
"it  was  nothing  but  pride.  I  was  always  proud 
enough;  in  fact,  it  is  one  of  my  deadly  sins,— 
at  least,  so  grandpapa  always  says.  Mammy 
used  to  call  it  obstinacy.  I  remember  once,  as 
a  child,  actually  starving  myself  as  a  practice, 
because  Katherine  was  starved  into  submission 
by  Petruchio.  I  wanted  to  be  able,  by  practice, 
to  meet  my  Petruchio  when  he  should  come." 

Bruce 's  face  was  a  study  as  he  listened  to 
this  history. 

"I  fancy  you  would  have  no  trouble  on  that 
score,"  he  smiled. 

"I  don't  know.  Perhaps —  Was  n't  it 
silly?  I  kept  it  up  till  I  got  really  sick. 
Then  grandpapa  gave  me  some  dreadful 
stuff  to  take.  That  cured  me.  No  Petruchio 
ever  came;  but  had  he  done  so,  he  would  not 
have  conquered  me  by  starvation.  Grandpapa 

116 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

says  I  got  it  from  him.  But  his  pride  is  noble. 
I  have  seen  him  endure  torture  without  a  groan. 
You  do  not  know  how  brave  he  is.  He  is  al- 
most blind,  and  will  soon  be  quite  so;  yet  he 
never  says  a  word  of  it." 

There  was  a  look  of  softness  in  her  face  as 
she  spoke  of  her  grandfather,  which,  following 
the  expression  of  determination  that  it  had 
borne  just  before,  made  her  more  beautiful 
than  ever.  Diana  had  changed  for  the  young 
man  to  the  softer  and  more  bewitching  Venus. 
Bruce  Landon  looked  at  her  with  new  in- 
terest. He  had  never  met  any  one  just  like 
this  until  now.  He  had  never  taken  in  her 
full  beauty  before.  He  was  conscious  that  he 
had  suddenly  grown  bashful.  He  hardly  dared 
to  touch  her  hand  as  he  helped  her  over  a  fallen 
tree  across  the  path.  Her  warm  touch  thrilled 
him  as  her  hand  lay  in  his.  He  had  never 
noticed  before  what  a  delicate,  shapely  hand 
she  had :  the  lingers  long  and  tapering,  the  wrist 
so  small,  the  skin  so  fine.  He  was  overcome 
with  a  sudden  sense  of  her  beauty;  her  pliant 
figure,  her  white  throat,  the  curves  of  her  cheek 
and  chin,  the  delicate,  rich  mouth,  the  white 
teeth,  the  fine  nose,  the  changing  color,  the  large, 

117 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

lustrous,  sweet  eyes,— they  entranced  him,  made 
his  heart  beat. 

"You  must  go  back  now,"  she  said  gently,  as 
they  neared  the  top  of  the  hill.  "I  have  to 
make  a  cup  of  tea  for  my  grandfather.  I  have 
no  doubt  he  has  been  expecting  me  for  a  half- 
hour." 

"Cannot  I  go  with  you?"  Bruce  found  cour- 
age to  ask.  "I  should  like  very  much  to  meet 
him.  I  did  once,  as  a  boy. ' ' 

"No;  he  never  sees  visitors,"  she  said  sim- 
ply, with  a  little  smile.  i  i  He  is  a  great  invalid. 
Good-by."  She  held  out  her  hand. 

He  took  it,  and  pressed  it. 

"Good-by." 


118 


X 


MARGARET  passed  quite  through  the 
pines,  and  reached  the  opening  beyond 
which  was  what  was  once  the  yard,  but  was 
now,  except  for  a  strip  of  flower-border  and  turf 
which  showed  care,  simply  a  tangle  of  bushes 
and  briars.  Instead  of  going  on  to  the  house, 
she  passed  along  the  path  to  an  outhouse  on 
the  side  of  the  yard,  and  went  in.  A  moment 
later  she  came  out,  and  going  over  to  a  little 
wood-pile,  began  to  pick  up  some  chips. 

It  was  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after- 
wards that  she  left  the  old  kitchen,  and  passed 
along  to  the  house  with  a  waiter  covered  with  a 
napkin,  on  which  were  an  old-fashioned  teapot 
and  cream-jug,  and  a  cup  and  saucer  of  old  blue 
china. 

As  she  entered  the  house,  a  high,  querulous 
voice  sounded  from  an  inner  room, 

"Margaret!    Margaret!     Margaret!" 

"Yes,  grandpapa,  I  'm  coming,"  she  called, 
quickening  her  step,  and  opening  a  door  on  the 
left  of  the  long  passage. 

119 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

The  room  she  entered  was  furnished  as  a  bed- 
room. The  few  articles  of  furniture,  though 
old  and  worn,  were  of  handsomer  workman- 
ship than  anything  about  the  place  would  have 
prepared  one  to  expect.  A  high  and  old  mas- 
sive, carved  mahogany  bedstead,  with  tall  tester 
reaching  up  to  the  top  of  the  low-pitched  room, 
took  up  half  of  one  side  of  the  apartment ;  and 
the  two  or  three  straight-backed  chain  and  the 
legs  of  the  round  table  were  carved  with  an 
elaborateness  which  told  of  a  former  age. 

By  the  open  window,  propped  up  with  pil- 
lows, in  an  armchair,  sat  an  old  man,  whose 
black,  deep-set  eyes,  gleaming  from  beneath  his 
shaggy  white  brows,  gave  the  only  suggestion 
of  color  in  his  pallid  face.  The  thin,  sharp  face, 
the  keen,  aquiline  nose,  the  stern  pose  of  the 
white  head,  and  the  restless,  deep  eyes  gave  the 
invalid  a  resemblance  to  an  old  gray  eagle, 
which  was  not  diminished  by  the  long,  thin 
hands,  which,  as  Margaret  entered,  clutched 
the  arms  of  his  chair  nervously,  as  he  faced 
the  door. 

"Well,  where  have  you  been?"  he  demanded 
in  that  querulous  tone  which  affection  some- 
times employs,  when  it  dwells  in  the  breast  of 
an  invalid,  as  the  girl  entered  the  room.  "Here 

120 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

I  have  been  shouting  myself  hoarse  for  two 
hours."  His  words  were  a  complaint,  but,  as 
his  eyes  rested  on  the  sweet  vision  before  him, 
his  tone  lost  the  accent  of  chiding  and  became 
half  humorous. 

His  granddaughter,  before  she  answered, 
crossed  the  room,  and  placed  the  waiter  on  the 
small  table.  Then  she  approached  the  invalid, 
and  proceeded  deftly  to  arrange  his  pillows. 
There  was  a  little  flush  on  her  face  as  she  met 
the  keen  eyes. 

" Where  have  I  been?"  she  smiled,  as  she 
smoothed  the  creases  and  patted  the  white  nap- 
kin. ' '  Well,  I  have  been  rubbing  my  lamp,  and 
demanding  a  spring  that  bubbles  up  hot  tea, 
and  I  have  been  getting  a  pitcher  of  cream  from 
the  cow  that  jumped  over  the  moon,— and  all 
for  the  most  spoilt  baby  that  ever  cried  'two 
hours'  on  a  stretch,— and  here  they  are." 

She  stooped  over,  and  kissed  the  old  man1  ten- 
derly on  the  forehead.  As  she  turned  away  to 
bring  the  table  closer,  the  expression  on  the 
invalid's  face  changed,  and  the  hawk  eyes  fol- 
lowed her  with  a  new  tenderness. 

"Ah  yes,  you  are  a  dear  little  fairy,"  he  said, 
' '  and  I  am  an  old  tyrant. ' ' 

"Oh  no !  you  are  not ;  you  shall  not  say  such 
121 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

things  of  yourself.  You  are  my  dear  old  grand- 
papa. "  She  kissed  him  again. 

"I  am  the  worst  enemy  you  ever  had  on 
earth,"  said  the  old  man,  bitterly. 

"You  are  nothing  of  the  kind,  and  you  are 
not  to  talk  that  way.  It  always  excites  and 
fatigues  you,  and  you  must  stop  it.  You  know 
that  you  promised  me  never  to  speak  that  way. 
Here,  your  tea  is  getting  cold.  No;  YOU  must 
drink  it  at  once." 

She  held  the  cup  to  him  with  a  pretty  author- 
ity, and  the  old  man  accepted  it. 

Bruce  walked  home  like  a  man  in  a  trance. 
He  was  divided  between  his  recollection  of  Mar- 
garet Keid  and  his  determination  to  persuade 
his  father  to  dismiss  his  warrant.  When,  how- 
ever, he  reached  the  house,  he  found  his  father 
seated  on  the  porch,  in  a  state  of  high  indigna- 
tion. He  was  indulging  in  a  philippic  against 
his  neighbor  across  the  river. 

"Why,  sir,"  he  said,  taking  Bruce  into  his 
audience  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence;  "why, 
sir,  he  has  turned  his  cows  into  my  cornfield 
again !  Eight  on  the  eve  of  the  warrant !  He  's 
simply  flouting  me!" 

Bruce  declared  that  it  was  impossible. 

"Impossible!  I  tell  you  that  it  is  so.  I 
122 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

heard  the  cow-bells  myself  down  there  in  my 
field;  and  when  my  overseer  went  down  there, 
he  found  where  they  had  been  chasing  around, 
trampling  down  my  best  corn.  He  saw  the 
track  of  the  man  that  was  with  them.  I  believe 
he  comes  over  and  cuts  the  corn  regularly." 

"Well,  the  man  was  driving  them  out,"  said 
Bruce. 

"No  such  thing.  Bailiff  says  he  saw  where  he 
came  up  from  the  water." 

i  l  Well,  I  know  he  was, ' '  asserted  Bruce ;  ' '  for 
I  drove  them  out  myself." 

"Ah,  you  were  acting  as  cowherd  for  old 
Browne? — or  perhaps  it  was  his  daughter?" 
said  his  father,  with  that  dry,  acrid  tone  which 
burned  like  a  hot  iron. 

The  young  man  winced.  He  set  his  teeth  hard 
together. 

"I  hope  that  you  will  pasture  them  some- 
where else  hereafter  except  in  my  best  corn," 
continued  his  father. 

"I  am  not  his  cowherd,"  said  Bruce;  "but, 
perhaps,  if  you  would  keep  up  your  fences,  you 
would  not  have  to  lay  the  blame  on  your  neigh- 
bors." 

"You  had  better  appear  at  the  trial,  and  air 
your  views  there.  They  may  be  deemed  of  more 

123 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

value  by  the  magistrate  than  I  consider  them. 
He  is  a  fool.  If  he  had  n't  been,  I  'd  have 
brought  the  warrant  years  ago." 

It  was  the  old  gentleman's  manner,  not  his 
words,  which  cut. 

Bruce  remembered  his  own  advice  to  him  to 
bring  the  warrant. 

"I  shall  not  go  to  the  trial  at  all,"  he  said. 

' ' Ah !  you  will  not?  You  will  do  me  tbe  favor 
to  remain  neutral!  Thank  you." 

The  Major's  fine  nose  looked  even  thinner 
than  ever,  and  the  nostrils  dilated. 

Bruce  had  never  been  so  patient  before.  He 
thought  of  the  picture  the  old  negro  woman 
had  drawn  of  their  poverty,  and  it  brought  him 
self-control. 

' '  They  are  very  poor — "  he  began,  and 
paused.  "If  you  knew  how  poor  they  are,  you 
would  not  be  so  hard  on  them,"  he  broke  out 
suddenly. 

The  Major  never  intended  to  be  hard  on  any 
one ;  but  he  was  thoroughly  angry  now,  and  was 
blind  to  everything. 

"You  have  been  investigating  the  matter,  and 
sitting  in  judgment  on  me?  You  had  better  go 
and  ask  Johnson  to  let  you  try  the  case.  He 
usually  makes  up  his  mind  before  he  hears  any 

124 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

evidence,  and  you  would  be  a  very  good  asso- 
ciate for  Mm.    I  don 't  know  how  poor  your  pro- 
tege is ;  but  he  ought  to  be  rich,  as  he  has  been 
fattening  his  cattle  in  my  corn  so  long. ' ' 
He  rose  and  marched  into  the  house. 

THE  owner  of  Landon  Hill  was  sitting  on  his 
verandah  in  the  dusk,  the  last  light  of  the  even- 
ing sky  falling  softly  on  his  white  hair  and 
beard.  Seen  in  this  dim  light  the  strong  lines 
of  his  careworn  face,  the  high  nose  and  deep- 
set,  dark  eyes  which  gave  his  countenance  at 
times  something  of  an  eagle  look,  were  softened 
until  he  might  have  been  simply  an  old  man 
dreaming  of  the  past.  And,  in  fact,  many 
dreams  were  passing  through  his  mind — of  a 
past,  full  of  sunshine  and  shadow;  but  where 
one  shadow  ever  rested ;  of  a  present  where  the 
shadows  were  increasing ;  and  of  a  future  where 
there  appeared  but  darkness  for  the  one  thing 
on  earth  that  time  had  left  for  him  to  love. 
When  he  was  gone  who  would  there  be  to  take 
care  of  Margaret,  the  one  sunbeam  in  his  somber 
life.  He  would  not  have  her  go  back  to  the  far 
South.  Yet  it  might  be  the  only  thing  left  for 
her  to  do.  Had  he  done  right  in  sacrificing  to 
his  pride  all  her  interest?  Was  it  right  in  him 

125 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVEE 

not  to  claim  his  own  where  her  future  depended 
on  it  ?  Yet,  if  he  claimed  them  what  part  would 
the  desire  for  revenge  have  played?  And  when 
revenge  was  gratified  what  would  he  do  with 
the  negroes!  He  had  long  since  made  up  his 
mind  on  this  point. 

Into  this  reverie  Broke  the  sound  of  a  foot- 
step coming  across  the  grass. 

A  footstep  may  indicate  a  person's  in- 
tention and  frame  of  mind  almost  as  clearly  as 
the  voice,  and  this  was  just  such  a  step.  In- 
deed, the  visitor  had  for  some  time  been  watch- 
ing outside  the  yard  gate,  waiting  for  the  day- 
light to  die  down  and  to  be  sure  that  no  one  else 
was  about;  and  even  under  cover  of  the  dusk 
he  came  forward  with  a  cringing  sort  of  motion, 
a  step  as  of  a  hunter  or  of  a  beast  of  prey, 
noiseless  and  crafty. 

"Who  is  that?"  asked  the  old  man  peering 
through  the  dusk. 

"Good-evening,  Dr.  Browne." 

"Good-evening.  Who  are  you?"  demanded 
the  person  addressed. 

"My  name  's  Green.  I  guess  you  may  have 
heard  of  me." 

"I  don't  recall  it.  Excuse  my  not  rising.  I 
am  suffering  somewhat  with  an  old  wound  which 

126 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

interferes  with  my  locomotion.  Won 't  you  take 
a  seat!  What  can  I  do  for  you?" 

"Oh,  not  much.  I  just  called  to  see  if  I 
could  n't  do  something  for  you.  I  used  to  know 
some  of  your  friends  down  South." 

"You  did!  Whom,  for  instance!"  There  was 
a  sudden  coldness  in  the  old  man's  voice  and 
he  turned  his  eyes  upon  his  visitor  with  so  keen 
a  glance  in  them  that  that  impervious  person 
began  to  stammer.  He,  however,  after  a  mo- 
ment recovered  himself. 

"I  used  to  know  Mr.  Le  Drus." 

"Well  you  knew  no  good  of  him,"  snapped 
the  old  Doctor.  "The  negro-trader!  A 
greater  rascal  I  never  knew  even  in  that  nefar- 
ious profession.  Not  content  with  what  he 
made  out  of  his  hellish  traffic,  he  bought  stolen 
negroes." 

His  visitor  cleared  his  throat  and  shifted  his 
seat  uneasily.  "I  don't  know  anything  about 
that.  I  never  had  any  dealings  with  him;  in 
fact,  I  was  against  him  myself." 

The  old  man,  however,  was  too  intent  on  the 
memories  awakened  by  the  name  to  pay  much 
attention  to  the  other's  words. 

"I  found  him  with  one  of  my  father's  negroes 
—I  mean  a  negro  I  used  to  know,"  he  corrected 

127 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

himself  quickly,— "  that  I  knew  was  stolen,  and 
if  it  had  not  been  for— if  he  had  not  given  him 
up  I  'd  have  had  him  arrested.  He  bought  him 
from  the  man  who  stole  him. ' ' 

Pokeberry  cleared  his  throat.  "What  did 
he  say  his  name  was?" 

"I  did  not  learn  his  name,  but  I  should  know 
him  if  I  ever  saw  him  again."  Pokeberry 
slowly  and  stealthily  pulled  up  his  collar.— 
"Yes,  I  'd  know  him— and  he  'd  know  me." 
Again  the  younger  man  cleared  his  throat,  and 
could  he  have  been  seen,  it  might  have  been 
noticed  that  his  face  had  whitened  and  the  per- 
spiration stood  on  his  brow. 

"Where  did  he  say  he  got  him,"  he  asked 
after  a  pause. 

1  i  He  did  not  say.  I  could  not  get  him  to  con- 
fess." 

The  other  gave  a  sigh  of  relief,  "Ah," 
and  when  he  spoke  next  he  had  changed  his 
tone. 

"I  'm  like  you.  I  don't  believe  in  slavery," 
he  said  insinuatingly.  "I  don't  think  one 
man  's  got  any  right  to  hold  another  in  bond- 
age. The  Lord  did  not  intend  it." 

"You  appear  to  be  in  the  Lord's  confidence," 
observed  Dr.  Browne  dryly. 

128 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

" Don't  you  believe  it  right  to  set  'em  free?" 
asked  the  visitor. 

"I  set  mine  free;  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
I  have  a  right  to  steal  another  man 's  property. ' ' 
Pokeberry  appeared  to  be  pondering.  He 
moved  so  as  to  get  himself  in  deeper  shadow. 

"Why  don't  you  claim  your  rights?"  he 
asked  suddenly.  Dr.  Browne  wheeled  on  him 
swiftly. 

"What  's  that  to  you?  What  do  you  know 
about  my  rights?"  he  demanded.  Pokeberry 
laughed  uneasily. 

1  i  I  know  a  good  deal  more  than  people  think. ' ' 

"Have  you  any  business  with  me?"  en- 
quired the  old  gentleman.  Pokeberry  was  pon- 
dering. He  could  not  conceive  of  any  man's 
lying  perdue  unless  he  had  something  to  con- 
ceal which  he  would  pay  for  keeping  quiet. 

"I  know  what  your  name  is,"  he  said  as 
though  he  were  merely  finishing  his  last  sen- 
tence. 

"Is  that  all  you  have  to  say?" 

"How  much  will  you  give  me  not  to  tell  it?" 
demanded  Pokeberry. 

Dr.  Browne  raised  himself  from  his  chair 
and  faced  him,  peering  at  him  in  the  dusk. 

"I  know  who  you  are  now,"  he  said  slowly. 
129 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 
"You  know  the  road  you  came  here  by.  Take 
it  and  never  put  your  foot  here  again.  I  don't 
know  what  object  you  had  in  coming;  but  by 
— !  if  I  ever  hear  of  you  interfering  with  my 
business,  old  and  broken  as  I  am,  I  will  hunt 
you  down  and  hand  you  over  to  the  authorities. ' J 

Pokeberry,  bully  as  he  was,  was  taken  aback 
by  the  old  man's  fierceness. 

"I  did  not  come  to  threaten  you.  I  did  not 
come  to  speak  out  of  the  way.  I  come  to  do 
you  a  good  turn. ' ' 

"I  want  nothing  from  you.  Go."  The  old 
fellow  pointed  imperiously  through  the  dusk 
towards  the  gate  and  the  younger  man  rose  and 
slunk  away.  As  he  walked  along  he  mumbled 
a  curse.  l  i  He  must  be  gotten  rid  of. ' ' 

He  would  get  even  with  him  if  it  took  him  all 
his  life.  But  it  would  clearly  not  do  to  let  him 
see  him  again. 


130 


XI 


THE  warrant  brought  by  the  Major  against 
the  old  "doctor"  was  the  absorbing  topie 
on  Newfound.  Other  men  had  brought  war- 
rants. Indeed,  Squire  Johnson  sat  monthly  on 
the  fourth  Saturday  in  every  month,  at  Jones 's 
Crossroads,  and  dispensed  justice  among  the 
neighbors,  at  an  average  of  one  dollar  a  case. 
But  the  Major  had  never  gone  to  law  before. 
He  had  always  boasted  that  he  had  never  had 
a  suit  in  his  life.  His  neighbor's  cows  had 
been  running  on  him  for  years,  and  he  had  con- 
tented himself  with  growling  about  it,  or,  when 
he  was  particularly  exasperated,  with  threat- 
ening to  sue  for  damages.  He  had  never  car- 
ried the  threat  into  execution;  some  said,  only 
because  Squire  Johnson  was  magistrate,  whilst 
others  ascribed  it  to  a  better  motive. 

At  any  rate,  now,  after  long  waiting,  the 
Major,  who  had  for  twenty  years  scouted  the 
justice,  and  ridiculed  with  his  biting  speeches 
the  pitiful  dissensions  of  his  neighbors,  had 

131 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

broken  his  boasted  record  and  had  gone  to  law 
himself. 

"Yes;  I  am  a  fool,  too,"  he  admitted  caus- 
tically to  one  of  his  friends  who  rallied  him 
on  his  taking  the  step  of  an  appeal  to  law  after 
having  so  often  inveighed  against  it.  "Yes; 
I  am  a  fool  like  the  rest.  But  if  I  remain  so 
different  from  my  neighbors,  they  all  impose 
on  me  and  eat  me  up." 

On  the  morning  of  the  trial  Bruce  Landon 
and  his  father  met  at  breakfast.  The  Major's 
face  was  unusually  grim,  and  the  look  in  his 
deep-set  eyes,  and  the  expression  on  his  thin, 
clean-shaven  lip,  were  not  auspicious  of  peace. 
He  was  evidently  girded  up  for  battle.  Bruce 
also  was  prepared  for  whatever  might  befall. 
His  morning  greeting,  as  he  entered  the  long 
breakfast-room,  was  suspiciously  polite ;  but  his 
face  was  set  with  a  look  of  defiance,  and  every 
movement  was  a  declaration  of  resistance.  The 
meal,  however,  passed  off  without  an  outbreak; 
indeed,  almost  in  silence.  Bruce  was  thinking 
of  Margaret  Reid,  and  the  Major  was  thinking 
of  his  disappointment  in  his  son.  The  Major, 
having  finished,  rose  and  marched  out  of  the 
room,  shutting  the  door  behind  him  with  a  slam. 
He  might  have  been  heard  walking  backwards 

132 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

and  forwards  with  a  sharp,  quick  step  from  one 
room  to  another,  as  he  made  his  preparations 
to  set  out,  and  when  he  left  the  house  his  tread 
was  that  of  a  grenadier.  He  carried  in  one 
hand  a  heavy  riding-whip,  and  in  the  other  an 
old  law-book  which  he  had  been  studying  assid- 
uously for  several  days,  and  which  had  the 
leaves  turned  down  in  many  places.  At  the 
rack  he  gave  the  volume  to  a  negro  boy,  and 
calling  to  another  to  tell  Mr.  Bailiff  that  he  had 
gone,  he  mounted  his  horse  and  rode  away. 

Bruce  spent  the  morning  in  lounging  list- 
lessly about  the  house.  He  tried  reading,  writ- 
ing, and  several  other  things;  but  his  favorite 
authors  palled  on  him,  and  his  pen  refused  to 
finish  the  sentence  he  began.  He  saw  nothing 
but  Margaret  Eeid,  heard  nothing  but  her 
voice.  He  felt  that  he  had  been  largely  to  blame 
in  setting  his  father  on  to  bring  the  warrant. 
At  last,  about  midday,  he  took  his  fishing-tackle 
and  strolled  down  towards  the  pond. 

The  little  yard  at  Jones's  Crossroads  was 
quite  full  an  hour  before  the  time  set  for  the 
hearing.  The  neighborhood  had  turned  out, 
and  the  little  store  did  a  thriving  business  in 
calico,  nails,  striped  candy  and  whiskey. 

The  first  person  to   arrive  connected  with 
133 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

the  case  was  Hall,  the  constable.  He  was 
watched  with  great  interest  as  he  tied  his  horse 
to  the  fence,  and  took  off  with  exaggerated  de- 
liberation his  saddle-bags.  They  were  known 
to  contain  his  official  papers,  and  were  watched 
with  expectation  approaching  to  awe  by  the 
crowd  in  the  little  yard  across  the  road.  They 
insensibly  lowered  their  voices,  and  gazed  at 
the  officer  as  if  they  expected  some  kind  of  ani- 
mal to  jump  out  of  his  leather  pockets.  He 
entered  the  little  yard,  greeting  every  one  he 
met  with  that  exaggerated  cordiality  and  con- 
descension which  usually  appertains  to  public 
office.  A  group  immediately  surrounded  him, 
to  whom  he  began  to  tell  of  his  visit  to  Dr. 
Browne's. 

"I  was  just  about  to  pin  the  summons  on  the 
do'  and  come  away,"  he  said,  "when  roun'  the 
house  there  came  the  pretties'  young  lady  that 
my  eyes  ever  see,  or  ever  expec'  to  see."  He 
took  out  a  bundle  of  papers,  and  resting  his  fin- 
ger on  it,  continued:  "I  have  done  made  the 
return  on  thar  that  I  explained  the  nature  of 
the  summons  to  her,  and  that  she  was  over  six- 
teen ;  but  the  fact  is  I  did  n  't  do  much  explain- 
ment,  and  the  Lord  knows  I  don't  know  whether 
she  's  sixteen  or  not.  I  know  I  'd  ruther  fling 

134 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

up  the  orfis  than  'a'  axed  her.  But  I  jes'  'lowed 
she  could  n'  'a'  growed  all  that  pretty  in  less 
than  sixteen  years,  that  's  all.  Don't  you  think 
I  am  right,  Sam?" 

As  Hall  was  a  widower  of  some  months' 
standing,  this  reasoning  struck  his  audience  as 
irresistible. 

"Talk  about  Pokeberry?  Why,  she  would  n' 
look  at  him  'cept  to  kick  him  out  of  her  way," 
he  said,  as  a  stout,  heavy  man  approached  the 
group.  His  face  was  a  deeper  red  than  that  of 
even  the  sunburned  men  about  him.  His  eyes 
were  bloodshot,  and  his  gait  was  slightly  un- 
steady. He  caught  the  closing  part  of  the  con- 
stable's speech,  and  gave  a  harsh,  grating 
laugh,  which  he  followed  with  a  storm  of  oaths. 
One  of  the  little  hounds  at  his  heel  was  so  un- 
fortunate as  to  get  in  his  way;  he  gave  the 
beast  a  savage  kick  which  sent  it  off  yelping 
with  pain. 

"Pokeberry,  you  agree  with  me,  I  know?" 
said  the  constable ;  at  which  sally  there  was  a 
general  laugh.  A  violent  outburst  of  oaths 
was  his  answer. 

"All  I  want  to  do  is  to  git  my  chance  at  'em. 
I  never  missed  gittin'  even  yet,  when  I  laid 
my  mind  to  it." 

135 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"Sometimes  you  gits  rather  ahead  of  'em  I 
expect, "  said  Hall. 

"I  b'lieve  the  Major  bring  that  warrant 
more  to  git  a  sight  at  them  folks  'n  anything 
else,"  declared  one  of  the  party,  meaning  to 
change  the  subject.  "He  ain'  keering  nothin' 
about  the  little  cawn  them  cows  eat." 

"He  's  another  one  I  '11  git  even  with," 
growled  Pokeberry,  steadying  himself  against 
a  tree. 

"Why  n't  you  say  that  to  him?"  asked  Hall. 
A  guffaw  greeted  the  thrust,  and  Pokeberry 
turned  scowling  away. 

"What  's  a  little  cawn  to  a  man  who  's  got 
them  flats?"  pursued  the  first  speaker,  not  heed- 
ing the  interruption.  "If  I  had  them  cawn- 
fiel's,  I  'd  want  cows  to  git  in  thar  sometimes, 
jes'  to  let  me  see  that  I  did  n'  feel  it." 

"He  ain'  keerin'  'bout  the  cawn  so  much  as 
'bout  the  old  doctor  lettin'  his  cows  keep  on 
gittin'  on  him,"  explained  the  constable,  in  the 
authoritative  tone  of  one  who,  holding  a  public 
office,  is  presumed  to  know  whatever  is  neces- 
sary on  every  subject. 

1  '  That  's  so, ' '  chimed  in  a  tall,  thin,  consump- 
tive-looking man  with  a  red  beard,  whose  name 
was  Hackett.  "He  don'  want  cows  nor  Sena- 

136 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

tors,  nor  nothin'  else  runnin'  over  him,  an'  he 
ain '  gwine  have  it. ' ' 

''No,  that  he  ain',"  asserted  Mills.  "And 
he  jes'  as  live  have  things  runnin '  over  him  as 
over  that  Ian'.  He  thinks  as  much  o'  that  Ian' 
o'  hisn  as  if  it  was  a  gold  mine.  They  ain'  a 
acre  on  the  place  he  don'  think  's  much  of  as  if 
it  was  pu'  low  ground.  He  's  always  talking 
'bout  it,  an'  spendin'  money  on  it.  Why,  he  's 
spent  money  enough  on  that  place  to  buy  three 
plantations.  He  's  takin'  keer  of  it  for  Bruce." 
The  tone  was  dry.  He  was  stating  the  fact  with 
the  air  of  a  man  who  did  not  imagine  any  one 
would  question  it. 

"I  wonder  what  he  'd  'a'  done  if  his  brother 
had  'a'  lived  to  divide  the  place  with  him?" 
said  one  of  the  crowd.  "I  b'lieve  't  would  kill 
him  to  give  up  a  acre  of  that  land." 

"I  b'lieve  't  would,"  assented  Mills.  "He  's 
always  talkin'  about  keepin'  it  in  trust  for 
Bruce." 

"I  ain't  seen  Bruce,  not  since  he  come  home, 
but  I  've  heerd  say  he  's  mighty  fine  and  as- 
sumptions," one  of  the  others  remarked. 

"He  's  a  mighty  nice  boy,"  said  Mills.  "In 
course,  he  's  kind  o'  curried  up,  but  he  don' 
put  on  no  airs.  He  's  all  right." 

137 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

Pokeberry  had  returned  to  the  group. 

' i D— n  him,  too!    He  's  another  one ! "  he  said. 

"Why,  you  seem  to  be  after  them  all  to-day, " 
laughed  Hall. 

"I  'm  after  him/'  said  Pokeberry,  angrily. 

"You  better  keep  some  distance  after  him, 
too,"  said  Mills.  "You  remember  that  hand- 
spike he  hit  you  with  when  he  was  n't  nothin' 
but  a  boy!  Well,  if  he  hits  you  now,  you  '11 
think  a  mule  's  kicked  you. ' ' 

Pokeberry  swore  inarticulately. 

"I  wonder  if  he  an'  the  old  Major  sets  horses 
any  better  than  they  used  to?"  Hall  asked  gen- 
erally. 

"Oh  yes!  the  Major  thinks  all  the  worl'  of 
him,"  replied  Mills.  "He  's  talkin'  about  put- 
tin'  him  in  charge,  and  turnin'  over  ev'ything 
right  to  him.  They  say  he  's  goin'  to  marry  a 
furreign  lady,  mighty  fine  an'  rich.  I  did  n't 
hear  the  Major  say  so,"  he  explained. 

"I  heard  that  Bruce  was  gwine  to  manage 
the  case  for  his  pa  to-day?"  said  Hall.  The 
faint  interrogation  in  his  tone  justified  Mills 
in  giving  evidence  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
affairs  of  his  friend. 

"He  is,"  he  said,  nodding  his  head  senten- 
tiously.  '  '  He  made  him  bring  it. ' ' 

138 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

The  arrival  of  the  magistrate,  who  was  to  try 
the  case,  turned  the  discussion  into  a  new  chan- 
nel. It  was  Squire  Johnson.  The  group 
watched  the  old  man  intently  as  he  came  around 
to  the  gate  with  his  book— " Mayors  Guide*7 — 
under  his  arm. 

t '  He  's  got  his  chance  now  about  which  he  was 
talkin'  eight  or  ten  years  ago,  that  evenin'  you 
and  me  was  here  devilin'  him,"  said  Mills  in 
an  undertone  to  Hall. 

The  constable's  mouth  was  full  of  tobacco. 
He  waited  a  moment,  then  turned  the  quid  in  his 
mouth. 

The  old  man  bustled  about  with  amusing  self- 
importance,  arranging  his  table  under  a  tree, 
and  laying  out  his  book  and  papers ;  but  no  one 
paid  any  attention  to  him,  for  the  interest  of  the 
crowd  was  suddenly  centered  on  a  small,  black 
negro,  who  at  this  moment  was  coming  up  the 
sandy  road  at  a  slow,  limping  gait.  He  was 
not  above  five  feet  tall,  and  he  wore  a  beaver 
hat  of  a  style  long  obsolete,  set  on  the  back  of 
his  gray  head.  As  he  reached  the  outskirts  of 
the  crowd  he  paused,  and  took  off  his  hat  defer- 
entially. 

"Sarvent,  marsters,"  he  said,  with  a  low, 
sweeping  salaam  to  the  crowd.  The  gesture  had 

139 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

an  apparent  effect;  for  a  dozen  men  near  him 
returned  the  greeting,  and  the  general  manner 
towards  him  was  one  of  kindness. 

'  '  Gent  'men,  ken  yon  have  the  civility  to  show 
me  which  are  the  jesticeT'  he  inquired  with  a 
Chesterfieldian  air. 

This  inquiry  immediately  directed  attention 
to  that  functionary,  who  came  through  the 
opening  which  the  crowd  instinctively  made. 

The  old  negro  advanced. 

* i  Jestice, ' '  he  said,  by  way  of  salutation,  with 
another  of  his  profound  bows  to  the  portly 
magistrate;  and  then,  after  some  search,  took 
a  letter  from  the  lining  of  his  old  hat.  He  ad- 
vanced a  step. 

' '  My  marster  have  direct  me  to  renounce  that 
he  have  the  honor  to  present  you  a  letter." 

He  advanced  and  delivered  the  missive  to  the 
magistrate,  whose  assumed  dignity  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  perfectly  natural  and  real  dignity  of 
the  little  negro  sank  at  once  to  the  point  of  a 
manifest  counterfeit. 

The  pause  in  which  the  squire  with  awkwaid 
fingers  was  handling  the  note,  was  broken  by 
some  one  inquiring  of  the  negro  as  to  the  health 
of  his  master. 

"I  thank  you,  marster,  not  so  very  well. 
140 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

He  's  most  in  general  uncommon  indisposed. 
He  find  it  impossible  to  repear  himself  on  this 
recasion.  An'  he  reques '  me  to  meek  his  ixcuses 
to  you,  gent 'men  on  that  recount." 

This  excessive  mark  of  his  master's  esteem 
was  accepted  by  the  crowd  with  due  dignity. 
The  magistrate  had  by  this  time  opened  the 
letter  which  was  written  in  a  fine  clear  hand, 
and  read  its  contents. 

They  ran  as  follows: 

"To JOHNSON,  Esq.,  Justice  of  the  Peace: 

"Sm:  I  have  no  defence  to  the  action  instituted 
against  me  by  Charles  Landon,  of  Landon  Hall,  Esq., 
for  trespass,  and  I  plead  guilty  thereto,  always  sav- 
ing any  criminal  intention  in  the  same. 

"I  have  instructed  my  servant  to  satisfy  whatever 
judgment  you  may  see  fit  to  enter  against  me,  and 
should  it  exceed  the  amount  he  has  at  present,  I  re- 
quest that  no  additional  costs  may  be  added  other 
than  are  necessary,  as  I  will  meet  whatever  balance 
there  may  be  by  to-morrow  evening. 

"Kesp'y  your  obd't  serv't, 

"THOMAS  BROWNE." 

The  effect  of  this  letter  on  the  burly  magis- 
trate was  to  put  him  into  a  state  of  violent  ex- 
citement. He  read  it  and  re-read  it,  and  then 
sat  down  and,  adjusting  his  spectacles,  studied 
it  carefully. 

141 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

Finally,  he  rose  and  beckoning  to  the  con- 
stable, walked  out  of  the  gate  to  a  point  across 
the  road  out  of  earshot  of  the  crowd,  where  he 
proceeded  to  read  the  letter  to  him. 

The  conference  was  long  and  earnest. 

"What  in  the  -  -  did  he  have  to  go  and 
plead  guilty  for,  anyways  ?"  he  asked  angrily 
of  his  friend. 

"You  was  for  him  befo'  you  got  that  letter, 
war  n't  you?"  inquired  the  constable. 

"For  him!  In  cose  I  was  for  him!  You  ain' 
s'pose  I  was  gwine  to  d'cide  in  favor  of  that 
air  overriding  slanderin'  Whig,  is  you,  not 
withouten  I  was  obleeged  to!  I  ain'  forgot 
how  he  talk'  about  me,  I  tell  you.  I  was  gwine 
to  show  him  who  was  the  majistrit  of  this  dis- 
trict, I  was ;  an'  I  'm  gwine  to  yit  ef  they  is  any 
way  to  do  it.  What  I  want  to  know  is,  ain'  they 
any  way  t'o  git  roun'  it?"  He  indicated  the  let- 
ter. 

"Bead  it  agin,"  said  the  constable. 

He  read  it. 

"  i Savin'  any  criminal  intention.'  What  do 
that  mean?"  asked  the  constable,  shutting  one 
eye  in  the  effort  to  focus  his  mind  on  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  abstruse  words. 

"That  's  hit!  that  's  hit!  What  a  fool  I  am! 
142 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

Of  cose,  that  's  hit!  *  Savin'  any  criminal  in- 
tention of  the  same.'  He  can't  plead  guilty 
without  they  being  a  criminal  intention?  Jim, 
you  's  got  a  blame'  good  head  on  you.  Ef  you 
hed  the  experience,  you  'd  meek  a  first-class 
majistrit." 

The  constable  looked  complacent  under  this 
compliment. 

"Is  you  heard  that  Sam  Mills  is  a  candidate 
for  my  place!"  the  magistrate  asked  suddenly, 
suspiciously. 

Hall  looked  a  little  embarrassed. 

"Nor;  Sam  ain'  no  candidate,"  he  said.  He 
turned  towards  the  yard,  perhaps  to  put  an  end 
to  the  conversation. 

"You  'd  meek  a  sight  better  majistrit  'n 
Sam,"  sai(J  the  justice,  insinuatingly.  "Sam 
ain'  got  the  head  on  him." 

This  commendation  was  received  by  the  sub- 
official  with  becoming  modesty,  and  the  two 
strolled  back  across  the  sandy  road,  just  as  a 
horseman  appeared  around  the  curve  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  away,  approaching  on  a  tall,  hand- 
some horse,  at  a  slow,  easy  gallop.  He  was 
dressed  in  white  linen,  and  carried  an  umbrella. 
The  murmur  of  the  crowd  announced  that  he 
was  a  personage  of  consideration. 

143 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"  There  he  comes, "  said  several  persons. 

' '  That  's  his  horse, "  announced  a  number, 
more  corroboratively. 

The  Major  rode  up  and  dismounted,  flinging 
his  bridle  to  a  negro  boy,  who  stepped  forward 
with  his  hat  off  and  his  teeth  shining.  The 
Major  raised  his  umbrella  with  deliberation. 
Then  he  came  around  to  the  gate,  saluting  every 
man  he  met.  His  manner,  if  a  little  condescend- 
ing, was  perfectly  easy  with  all,  and  with  some 
was  cordial.  It  was  apparent  that  he  was  highly 
esteemed,  for  the  people  crowded  up  to  speak 
to  him.  His  greetings  evinced  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  each  man's  affairs.  He  even 
saluted  politely,  if  a  little  contemptuously,  the 
scowling  justice,  who,  as  he  approached,  sud- 
denly engaged  in  conversation  with  some  one, 
and  pretended  not  to  be  aware  of  his  arrival. 

In  a  few  minutes  the  magistrate  took  his 
seat,  got  out  his  silver-rimmed  spectacles, 
wiped  them  carefully  and  put  them  on ;  cleared 
his  mouth  of  tobacco,  and  looked  at  the  Major, 
who  was  busy  talking  to  one  of  his  neighbors 
about  his  sick  cow. 

As  no  attention  was  paid  to  him,  the  justice 
called  the  constable,  and  raising  his  voice, 
ordered  him  to  ' '  open  cote. ' 9 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

When  this  was  done,  by  a  short  and  incoherent 
proclamation,  without  attracting  the  notice  of 
the  Major,  who  still  discoursed  with  an  admir- 
ing group  around  him,  the  magistrate  took  a 
fresh  quid  of  tobacco  and  directed  the  constable 
to  inform  him  that  his  case  was  called.  The 
officer,  after  waiting  respectfully,  perhaps,  five 
minutes  for  a  break  in  the  Major's  speech  on 
the  subject  of  the  dry  weather,  delivered  his 
message. 

"Tell  him  I  am  not  ready, "  said  the  gentle- 
man, with  an  easy  assurance,  which  sent  the 
messenger  back  somewhat  abashed,  and  the 
speech  flowed  on  as  before,  only  with  increased 
urbanity. 

A  few  moments  later  his  overseer,  with  a 
law-book  in  his  hand,  rode  up  and  came  into  the 
yard. 

He  approached  his  employer  and  waited  re- 
spectfully for  a  time,  after  which  he  turned 
away  to  talk  to  some  of  his  friends.  But  when 
the  Major,  after  delivering  himself  to  a  group 
with  much  affability  on  the  subject  of  the  differ- 
ence between  clover  and  orchard-grass  as  a 
food  for  stock,  turned  suddenly  and  walked  up 
to  the  little  table  beside  which  sat  the  scowling 

145 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

magistrate,  his  manager  was  immediately  be- 
hind him. 

He  swept  the  crowd  with  a  swift  glance.  He 
was  aware  that  the  defendant  was  not  on  the 
ground,  and  anticipating  a  motion  for  a  contin- 
uance, was  prepared  to  deliver  himself  with 
much  force  on  the  subject. 

"I  am  ready;  where  is  the  defendant?"  he 
asked,  taking  off  his  hat. 

For  answer,  the  magistrate  leaned  over,  and 
with  accentuated  pomposity,  handed  him  the 
note,  turning  his  quid  in  his  mouth,  in  token  of 
his  perfect  indifference. 

The  Major's  countenance  fell  as  he  read  the 
paper.  He  re-read  it,  and  then  handed  it  back. 

"I  see  he  pleads  guilty,"  he  remarked. 

"No,  he  don't,"  asserted  the  officer,  again 
rolling  his  quid  in  his  mouth,  this  time  in  token 
of  his  determination. 

The  Major  frowned. 

"Why,  he  does." 

"Whar  do  he  do  it?"  inquired  the  justice, 
with  suspicious  blandness. 

"Why,  there,"  pointing  to  the  paper. 

"I  don't  see  it." 

"Well,  I  know  you  don't;  you  never  see  any- 
thing you  don't  wish  to  see;  but  you  would  un- 

146 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

less  you  were  blind  mentally  as  well  as  physi- 
cally,'7 asserted  the  irate  Major,  seizing  the 
paper. 

The  crowd  appreciated  the  hit,  and  a  chuckle 
of  enjoyment  went  through  it.  The  gentleman 
read  the  note  aloud,  with  strong  emphasis.  He 
was  reading  to  the  crowd,  and  they  appreciated 
the  compliment. 

"Is  n't  that  pleading  guilty ?"  he  asked, 
looking  through  his  gold-rimmed  spectacles. 

' ' What  does  it  say!  ' Savin'  any  criminal 
intention  in  the  same.'  What  does  that  mean?" 

"It  don't  mean  anything.  It  means  that  he 
is  a  word-splitting  old  jackass,  like  some  other 
people;  that  's  what  it  means!"  asserted  the 
Major. 

The  crowd  applauded  with  a  guffaw. 

The  Major  turned  to  them,  read  and  re-read 
the  paper,  talked  to  them  over  it,  and  so  berated 
the  old  magistrate,  that  he  was  thrown  entirely 
on  the  defensive.  He  looked  over  at  the  constable 
for  assistance;  but  that  official  had  inconti- 
nently deserted  and  gone  over  to  the  majority, 
and  was  now  grinning  from  ear  to  ear,  over  the 
Major's  comments  on  the  magistrate's  judicial 
construction. 

"If  you  cannot  see  what  is  written  plainly 
147 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

on  paper,  we  have  men  among  us  who  are  less 
afflicted, "  declared  the  Major. 

The  crowd  understood  this  to  be  a  reference 
to  Sam  Mills,  and  several  of  them  nudged  him. 
Sam  only  chewed  silently. 

Finally,  carried  along  by  the  force  of  his  own 
eloquence,  and  inspired  by  the  sympathy  of  the 
crowd,  the  Major  launched  out  against  the  de- 
fendant. 

"Why  does  he  remain  skulking  at  home  when 
summoned  by  law  to  appear  before  a  magistrate 
of  this  county  and  State !"  he  asked.  "Why 
does  he  not  come  forward  and  defend  himself 
like  a  man,  if  he  is  an  honest  man  !  Is  he  afraid 
to  face  daylight,  that  he  prowls  around  at  night, 
and  cannot  be  drawn  out  of  his  hole  even  by 
process  of  the  Commonwealth!  What  is  he? 
Is  he  a  murderer,  a  counterfeiter,  or  an  aboli- 
tionist! He  ought  to  be  made  to  appear;  he 
ought  to  be  investigated.  This  is  no  longer  a 
mere  private  and  personal  matter;  his  conduct 
is  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  Com- 
monwealth. ' ' 

This,  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect,  the 
old  gentleman  delivered  to  the  appreciative 
crowd,  who  broke  into  loud  applause  at  his 
words. 

148 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVEE 

When,  therefore,  he  threw  the  paper  on  the 
table,  and  insisted  that  the  magistrate  at  once 
try  the  case  and  give  him  judgment,  or  he 
would,  at  the  next  court,  have  an  inquiry  insti- 
tuted as  to  his  sanity,  and  see  if  a  sane  man 
could  not  be  found  to  take  his  place,  the  justice 
did  not  have  the  courage  to  resist,  and  with  a 
turn  of  his  quid  in  his  mouth,  proceeded  to  try 
the  case. 

The  overseer  was  duly  sworn,  and  proved  the 
facts  and  the  amounts  of  estimated  damages; 
and  then  the  defendant  was  called,  and  failing 
to  appear,  the  justice,  after  much  figuring, 
gravely  delivered  judgment  in  favor  of  the 
plaintiff,  for  a  little  less  than  he  claimed ;  deliv- 
ering, at  the  same  time,  a  speech,  which  was  a 
marvel  of  unintelligible  contradictions,  attempt- 
ing to  reconcile  his  present  action  with  the 
stand  he  had  at  first  taken. 

The  contemptuous  indifference  with  which 
the  Major  received  his  announcement  was  noted 
and  enjoyed  by  the  crowd.  He  turned  to  the 
constable. 

"Levy  immediately, "  he  said.  "I  '11  bring 
the  old  abolitionist  out  of  his  hole." 

He  turned  away.  As  he  did  so,  he  was  ar- 
rested by  the  little  black  pressing  forward,  and 

149 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

taking  off  his  old  hat.  He  bowed  low  to  the 
Major.  His  grandiloquence  had  disappeared, 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  gentleman  he  was  the 
picture  of  humility. 

"How  much  is  it,  marster?"  he  asked. 

"Five  dollars  and  thirty-seven  cents, "  said 
the  justice. 

The  negro's  countenance  fell. 

' '  Dat  's  mo '-  '  he  began ;  then  stopped ;  and 
after  much  fumbling,  took  out  of  his  pocket  an 
old  rag  wrapped  about  something,  and  carefully 
tied  with  a  string.  This  he  worked  at  for  some 
time,  until  he  had  untied  it.  Unwrapping  it 
carefully,  he  leaned  over,  and  poured  out  on  the 
table  a  handful  of  small  silver  and  copper  coins, 
which  he  carefully  pushed  into  the  very  center 
of  the  table,  as  if  fearful  that  they  might  roll 
off. 

"Will  you  please  count  dem,  marsterT'  he 
said  timidly. 

The  coin  was  counted;  the  crowd  looking  on 
with  breathless  interest;  the  Major  standing 
with  arms  folded,  looking  down  with  contemp- 
tuous amusement. 

"Five  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents, "  said 
the  magistrate,  looking  over  the  table,  and  mov- 
ing every  paper  so  as  to  prove  that  none  was 
overlooked. 

150 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"Five  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents, — five 
dollars  and  twenty-five  cents, "  repeated  the 
negro  to  himself,  looking  around  the  table. 
"How  much  does  that  lack!" 

After  a  slight  calculation  the  amount  was 
announced. 

"Twelve  cents." 

This  sum  was  wanting.  The  negro  turned  to 
the  Major. 

"Ef  you  could  wait,  marster,  for  about  a 
week—  1 "  he  began. 

"I  won't  wait,"  said  the  Major,  grimly. 

A  pause  of  uncertainty  ensued,  in  which  the 
negro  meditated.  His  face  showed  the  deepest 
concern. 

"Dat  's  ev'y  cent  dee  is  on  de  place,"  he 
said,  half  audibly,  to  himself.  Then,  in  a  little 
louder  tone, 

"If  any  gent 'man  would  lend  me  twelve 
cents?"  He  looked  around  him. 

"There  it  is,"  said  the  Major,  tossing  him  a 
dollar,  and  putting  on  his  glove. 

The  old  man's  eyes  gleamed  as  he  seized  the 
coin  and  laid  it  on  the  pile. 

The  Major  walked  towards  the  gate,  but  the 
magistrate  overtook  him,  holding  the  money 
in  one  hand  and  a  paper  in  the  other.  He 
stopped. 

151 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

"What  's  this?"  he  inquired  impatiently. 

"This  is  the  judgment  for  you  to  mark  ' sat- 
isfied V 

The  old  justice  was  glad  of  the  opportunity 
to  display  his  superior  knowledge  on  this  one 
point  at  least.  The  Major  walked  back  to  the 
table,  and  wrote  the  receipt  on  the  paper.  Then 
he  pulled  on  his  glove  slowly,  and  was  turning 
away  when  the  justice  held  out  to  him  the  money. 
He  stopped  angrily,  but  held  out  his  hand. 

"Count  it,"  he  said  shortly. 

The  officer  counted  it  out  coin  by  coin  into  his 
palm. 

The  Major  looked  at  him  with  an  ugly  gleam 
in  his  eye ;  but  just  then  the  little  negro  passed 
by  with  a  low  salute. 

"Here!"  he  said,  and  pitched  the  handful  of 
money  to  him. 

When  the  Major  cantered  out  of  sight,  the 
negro  was  still  on  his  knees  searching  in  the 
short  grass  for  some  of  the  coins. 


152 


XII 


A^iL  that  afternoon  a  crowd  remained  around 
the  little  store  at  the  Crossroads,  drinking 
and  discussing  the  trial.  Several  rows  occurred ; 
Pokeberry  being  concerned  in  more  than  one  of 
them,  and  being  the  aggressor.  Towards  sunset 
he  was  quite  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  as 
were  several  others.  When  he  was  drunk  he 
was  always  quarrelsome.  He  appeared  now  to 
have  a  special  grudge  against  the  Major.  He 
came  up  to  a  group  in  which  were  Mills  and 
Hall,  and  began  a  tirade  against  Major  Landon 
for  his  contempt,  as  he  charged,  of  a  poor  man. 
Mills  took  it  up  and  denied  flatly  that  there  was 
any  ground  for  such  a  charge. 

' i  Any  hones '  po '  man  the  Major  is  got  as  much 
respec'  for  as  if  he  owned  a  big  plantation  and 
three  hundred  niggers, ' '  he  declared.  ' '  He  said 
once  that  a  man  as  was  proud  of  his  money  was 
like  a  blacksmith  as  bragged  of  the  iron  in  his 
shop  and  did  n'  have  sense  to  do  any  work  on  it." 

The  crowd  applauded  this  view,  and  Poke- 
153 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

berry,  enraged,  growled  an  angry  threat  against 
the  Landons. 

"Why  don't  you  go  an'  tell  'em  so!"  asked 
Mills.  "You  have  mighty  good  opportunities, 
and  I  ain'  never  heard  of  you  tellin'  either  of 
'em." 

The  laugh  of  the  crowd  stung  the  bully,  and 
with  an  oath  he  declared  that  any  man  was  a 
hound  who  followed  a  Landon. 

Mills  was  seated  on  the  fence.  He  looked  at 
him  with  slightly  contracted  eyes,  but  said 
nothing.  This  was  accepted  by  Pokeberry  as  a 
sign  that  he  was  afraid  of  him,  and  he  stepped 
a  little  nearer  him.  The  crowd  stopped  talking 
and  fell  back.  Pokeberry  addressed  himself 
directly  to  Mills. 

"I  know  about  you,"  he  began. 

Mills  lazily  let  his  long  legs  down,  and  slipped 
from  the  fence,  which  he  leaned  against. 

"Look  a-here,  Pokeberry,"  he  said  slowly, 
with  another  contraction  of  his  eyes,  "go  skeer 
runaway  niggers.  Don'  you  try  it  on  me.  If 
you  does,  runaway  niggers  won'  have  nobody 
to  fool  'em  away." 

Pokeberry 's  answer  to  this  was  a  furious 
demand  to  know  what  Mills  meant,  and  a  tirade 
against  any  and  all  persons  who  insinuated  any- 
thing connecting  him  with  negroes. 

154 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

He  could  whip  any  man,  he  declared,  who  said 
anything  connecting  him  with  niggers. 

"Look  a-here,  Pokeberry,"  said  Mills,  with 
a  slight  bend  towards  him, ' '  talkin '  's  cheap ;  but 
if  you  lay  the  weight  of  your  hand  on  me,  I  '11 
take  my  pocket  knife  and  cut  your  throat  from 
ear  to  ear." 

His  thin,  sun-browned  face  was  grim,  and  his 
gray  eyes  burnt  back  under  his  brows;  but  he 
was  very  quiet.  There  was  a  murmur  from  the 
bystanders.  One  or  two  of  them  advised  Poke- 
berry  to  let  him  alone.  Sam  Mills  was  not  a 
man  to  trifle  with. 

Whether  it  was  that  Pokeberry  was  afraid  of 
the  spare,  wiry  creature  who  looked  at  him  with 
such  fearless  eyes,  or  whether  he  deemed  it  un- 
wise to  fight  with  such  a  cause  of  quarrel,  can- 
not be  known.  But  veering  wholly  from  his 
former  position  he  began  suddenly  an  attack  on 
Dr.  Browne,  whom  he  boldly  declared  to  be  an 
abolitionist.  He  adjourned  to  the  little  bar-room 
in  the  back  of  the  store. 

This  episode  broke  up  the  crowd,  and  as  it 
was  sundown,  Mills  and  the  sober  ones  went 
home,  leaving,  however,  a  considerable  number 
still  hanging  around  the  bar. 

There  Pokeberry  continued  his  attack  on  Dr. 
Browne.  He  had  sobered  enough  to  feel  that 

155 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

after  Mills'  open  charge  something  was  neces- 
sary to  turn  public  attention  from  himself.  He 
told  of  the  disappearance  of  the  two  negroes, 
some  years  before,  and  charged  that  the  old 
man  had  helped  to  get  them  away.  He  himself 
had  seen  him  in  New  Orleans,  he  declared.  He 
adroitly  used  the  Major's  speech  of  that  day, 
with  additions  of  his  own,  as  a  lever  to  move 
the  drunken  crowd. 

"He  's  a  abolitionist,"  he  kept  on  asserting, 
with  many  oaths ;  ' '  and  he  ought  to  be  run  out. 
That  's  what  the  Major  said.  He  's  a  abolition- 
ist. He  ought  to  be  tarred  and  feathered,  and 
run  out, — and  I  am  the  man  to  do  it." 

By  the  time  he  had  repeated  this  a  score  of 
times,  with  such  embellishments  as  his  brutal 
brain  suggested,  he  had  got  the  drunken  set 
around  him  into  a  state  in  which  they  believed 
the  Major  had  suggested  the  tarring  and  fea- 
thering and  would  warmly  approve  it.  A  few, 
with  a  little  reason  left,  protested  against  such  a 
lawless  measure ;  but  the  majority,  to  the  num- 
ber of  a  dozen  or  more  of  the  most  worthless 
characters  in  the  county,  applauded. 

"I  'm  the  man  to  do  it,"  asserted  Pokeberry, 
pulling  off  his  coat,  and  turning  it  wrong  side 
outwards. 

156 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVEft 

A  few  minutes  later  he  was  out  in  the  dark, 
with  a  drunken  gang  around  him,  clamorous 
to  "  drive  the  d— d  abolitionist  out,  as  the  Major 
said. ' ' 

Meantime,  Major  Landon  had  arrived  at  home 
in  unusually  good  spirits.  He  had  carried  his 
point,  and  won  his  first  suit;  he  had  publicly 
shown  that  the  pompous  and  self-important  old 
magistrate  who  had  long  opposed  him  was  a 
fool,  and  had  held  him  up  to  open  scorn  and  de- 
rision; and  he  had  vindicated  his  rights,  which 
were  what  he  always  contended  for.  Accord- 
ingly, as  he  mounted  the  long  stone  steps  of  his 
mansion,  and  turned,  as  he  reached  the  top,  to 
look  back  over  his  wide  estate  lying  in  the  light 
of  the  declining  sun,  an  expression  of  benignity 
most  unusual  to  his  firm  face  rested  there. 

The  scene  before  him  was  one  which  might 
well  have  pleased  him.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  in  either  direction,  the  rolling  fields,  green 
with  grain  and  grass,  and  traversed  by  brown 
fences,  belonged  to  Landon  Hall.  Only  imme- 
diately opposite,  where  the  hills  rose  on  the 
other  side  of  Newfound,  was  a  break  in  his 
domain.  There  was  Landon  Hill,  the  first  home 
of  his  forefathers,  held  by  an  unknown  stranger. 
There,  surrounded  by  dense  woods,  and  keeping 

157 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

himself  wholly  secluded,  never  leaving  his  plan- 
tation, and  declining  either  to  receive  or  to  re- 
turn visits,  lived  his  strange  neighbor.  The 
tops  of  the  clump  of  old  oak  trees  marking  the 
yard  showed  above  the  pines  which  had  been 
allowed  to  grow  and  cover  the  fields,  as  if 
to  conceal  the  old  frame  hip-roofed  house  and 
its  surroundings  from  the  gaze  of  its  imposing 
neighbor  opposite. 

A  slight  frown  crossed  Major  Landon's  brow, 
as  his  eye  rested  for  a  moment  on  this  spot.  It 
was,  perhaps,  but  the  recollection  of  the  contest 
he  had  just  been  through  with  his  recluse  neigh- 
bor, but  with  it  was  a  deeper  feeling  connected 
with  the  contest  in  the  breakfast  room  that 
morning. 

The  shadow  passed  in  a  moment,  and  he  turned 
away  and  entered  the  wide  hall. 

"He  '11  keep  his  cows  to  himself  now,  I  reck- 
on—the old  abolitionist!"  he  said,  with  a  half- 
laugh. 

As  his  footstep  sounded  on  the  polished  floor, 
a  door  on  one  side  of  the  hall  opened,  and  his 
wife  came  forward  and  advanced  toward  him 
with  a  smile  of  welcome,  Mrs.  Landon  still  re- 
tained much  of  the  beauty  which  had  made  her 
years  before  the  belle  of  her  county.  Yet  there 

158 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVEB 

was  a  suggestion  of  sadness  in  her  manner  or 
her  countenance,  it  could  scarcely  be  told  which, 
though  it  might  have  been  the  contrast  between 
the  white  hair  on  her  brow  and  the  brilliant  dark 
eyes  which  shone  in  her  pale  face  like  stars,  and 
which,  when  she  smiled,  made  her  look  like  a 
girl.  As  she  came  forward  with  a  smile  to  meet 
her  husband,  his  whole  manner  changed.  The 
gray  eyes  softened,  the  hard,  strong  mouth  with 
the  clean-shaven  lip  relaxed,  and  a  smile  lit  up 
his  face. 

"Well?"  she  said,  with  a  rising  inflection  of 
interrogation  and  of  welcome. 

"Oh!  I  won;  I  beat  him.  Eouted  him  'horse, 
foot,  and  dragoons.'  " 

He  put  his  hat  on  the  table ;  placed  his  gloves 
carefully  in  it;  laid  his  horsewhip  on  top,  and 
put  his  arm  around  his  wife  like  a  young  lover. 

"I  am  so  glad  you  beat,"  she  said;  "but  I 
hope  you  were  not  too  hard  on  him." 

"Lucy,  I  believe  you  would  take  up  for  the 
devil,"  said  her  husband,  half -jestingly. 

"Well,  if  he  needed  it,  perhaps,"  she  smiled 
up  at  him;  "and  really  those  people  over  there 
have  been  much  in  my  mind  of  late. ' ' 

"Well,  I  was  n't  hard  on  them  at  all.  If  I 
had  not  warranted  him,  there  never  would  have 

159 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

been  any  end  to  it.  You  will  bear  me  witness 
that  I  had  stood  it  for  years ;  had  sent  him  word ; 
and  had  shown  the  forbearance  of  a  saint,  and 
I  was  forced  to  apply  to  the  law.  The  rascal !  It 
is  as  well  he  did  not  come  there,  for  I  might 
have  been  tempted  to  lay  my  horsewhip  over  his 
shoulders.  I  believe  he  drove  his  cows  across 
the  river  into  my  fields,  anyhow.  I  do  not  see 
how  they  managed  otherwise  to  get  through  the 
swamp  so  readily. 

"I  am  afraid  they  are  very  poor,  and  you 
know  he  might  have  been  sick  when  you  sent  him 
word/'  sighed  Mrs.  Landon. 

4 'Sick!  the  mischief!  He  has  not  been  sick 
for  twenty  years,  I  reckon ;  and  he  has  been  hid- 
ing from  me  that  long.  It  is  my  opinion  that  he 
has  been  at  the  bottom  of  all  the  devilment  that 
has  been  going  on  so  long  in  the  country." 

"I  wish  they  would  let  me  do  something  for 
them,"  said  Mrs.  Landon,  who  was  the  incarna- 
tion of  charity. 

"I  don't  want  to  do  anything  for  them,  except 
get  rid  of  them  and  their  cows,"  asserted  the 
Major.  "If  I  had  anything  to  go  on,  I  would 
lodge  a  complaint  against  him ;  that  is  what  I  'd 
do.  I  hoped  to  have  got  a  sight  of  him  to-day ; 
but  the  rascal  was  afraid  to  face  me."  The 

160 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

Major  was  working  himself  up  to  the  usual  pitch 
of  excitement  over  his  wrongs. 

"My  dear,  they  say  he  is  a  most  kind  and 
gentle  person,  and  does  a  great  deal  of  good, 
and  if  he  chooses  to  withdraw  himself—  He 
must  be  a  good  man ;  because —  " 

"A  good  man,  Lucy!"  interrupted  the  Major 
hotly.  "Who  ever  heard  of  a  good  man  shun- 
ning the  daylight,  and  hiding  from  the  eyes  of 
his  neighbors,  and  going  out  only  at  night  like 
a  mink  or  a  ground-hog?  He  is  an  abolitionist, 
in  my  opinion." 

When  the  Major  expressed  a  thing  as  his 
"opinion,"  Mrs.  Landon  knew  that  there  was 
the  end  of  it;  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to 
combat  it,  at  least  for  the  time  being. 

"You  did  not  make  them  pay  any  money,  I 
hope,"  she  said  sweetly,  as  she  drew  a  chair  up 
near  that  into  which  her  husband  had  thrown 
himself. 

"Of  course  I  did  n't, — that  is,  I  gave  it  back 
after  I  had  made  him  pay  it,"  he  replied.  He 
did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  tell  her  just  how 
he  had  given  it  back.  Indeed,  the  manner  of  its 
return  did  not  strike  him  now  as  being  alto- 
gether as  praiseworthy  as  he  had  considered  it 
when,  in  the  presence  of  a  gaping  throng,  he 

161 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

had  tossed  it  disdainfully  to  the  old  negro,  who 
had  counted  it  out  so  quietly  after  the  justice 
had  decided  against  his  master. 

He  did  not  know  that  at  that  moment  Poke- 
berry  Green,  half  sotted  with  liquor,  was  urg- 
ing his  word  to  a  drunken  crowd  as  a  justifica- 
tion for  an  act  of  outrageous  violence. 

The  soft  evening  air  came  through  the  open 
windows  with  the  odor  of  grass  upon  it.  It 
brought  back  a  reminiscence  to  the  Major,  and 
he  went  off  into  reflection.  Suddenly  he  aroused 
himself. 

16  Where  is  Bruce  ?"  he  asked. 

'  '  He  took  his  rod  and  went  off  after  lunch  to 
take  a  fish,"  said  Mrs.  Landon,  quickly.  A 
faint  shade  of  anxiety  came  into  her  eyes,  and 
she  looked  around,  taking  in  her  husband's  face 
in  her  glance. 

He  shifted  in  his  chair,  and  presently  reached 
over  and  picked  up  a  book  from  the  table.  The 
act  was  full  of  emphasis.  He  opened  the  book 
and  turned  over  the  leaves  impatiently. 

6 1 1  wish  he  would  stay  at  home  sometimes.  I 
don't  like  the  way  he  is  carrying  on,"  he  said 
abruptly,  throwing  the  book  back  on  the  table, 
and  rising  with  a  jerk  from  the  chair. 

162 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

The  look  of  anxiety  on  Mrs.  Landon's  face 
deepened. 

"My  dear,  I  hope  you  will  not  say  anything 
to  him  when  he  comes  in, ' '  she  said  with  a  tone 
of  entreaty.  "He  is  very — "  She  paused. 

"Certainly  not,  if  you  wish  it,"  said  the 
Major;  "but  things  have  come  to  a  pretty  pass. 
I  am  to  stand  all  his  humors  and  disobedience 
and  never  say  a  word.  What  is  he  always  going 
over  there  after?" 

"My  dear,  you  forget  that  Bruce  is  a  man 
now. ' ' 

1 '  I  don 't  care  if  he  is  forty  men ! ' '  interrupted 
the  Major,  hotly;  "if  he  stays  here,  he  has  to 
conform  to  my  wishes.  I  thought  he  had  im- 
proved, but  I  believe  that  he  is  worse  than 
ever. ' ' 

Mrs.  Landon  walked  up  and  put  her  hand 
over  his  mouth. 

"Don't  say  that." 

"It  is  base  ingratitude.  I  have  given  him 
every  advantage  and  have  spent  a  fortune  on 
him,  and  he  takes  no  notice  of  my  requests — 
none  whatever.  I  asked  him  to  go  up  with  me 
to-day,  and — " 

"He  could  not  have  understood  you,"  de- 
fended his  mother. 

163 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

" Could  not?  He  could  not  have  misunder- 
stood me;  but  he  is  bent  on  thwarting  my 
wishes. ' ' 

1 '  Oh,  no !    I  am  sure  that  you  misjudge  him. ' ' 

"Nothing  of  the  kind;  he  was  determined  I 
should  dismiss  my  warrant  against  that  rascal, 
and  when  I  would  not,  he  refused  to  do  what  I 
asked  him.  Why  is  he  suddenly  so  interested 
in  that  old  creature  1  Ten  days  ago  he  was  urg- 
ing me  to  bring  suit." 

Mrs.  Landon  did  not  answer,  hoping  to  put 
an  end  to  the  conversation;  but  the  Major's 
mind  was  working. 

"It  was  a  great  mistake  to  send  him  off  to 
school  when  we  did.  He  has  got  chocked  full  of 
all  those  fool  notions  about  humanitarianism 
those  people  have,  and  which  they  substitute  for 
law  and  order  and  religion  and  everything  else. 
Only  this  morning  he  was  talking  the  greatest 
non—  "~ 

' '  Oh,  I  don 't  think  so ;  you  are  unjust  to  him, ' ' 
urged  his  wife. 

"Why,  he  insisted  that  I  should  dismiss  the 
warrant,  and  let  old  Browne's  cows  eat  up  my 
corn.  What  do  you  call  that?" 

"I  think  it  was  very  kind  and  generous  in 
him." 

The  Major  gave  a  sniff. 
164 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

' '  Kind  and  generous,  the  mischief !  It  's  easy 
to  be  kind  and  generous  on  other  people's 
money.  It  's  my  opinion  that  he  is  extraordin- 
arily interested  in  old  Browne's  cows  all  of  a 
sudden.  The  first  thing  you  know  he  '11  be  in- 
volved in  some  scandal.  The  idea  of  his  run- 
ning opposition  to  Pokeberry  Green ! ' ' 

"I  do  not  think  there  is  any  danger  of  that," 
Mrs.  Landon  said  warmly. 

"What  makes  him  go  down  fishing  every 
afternoon  on  that  side  of  the  mill-pond?  He  is 
certainly  not  after  fish,  for  he  never  catches 
any." 

"Oh,  yes,  he  does,"  began  Mrs.  Landon. 

"Well,  in  my  opinion,  it  is  not  fish  he  's  after. 
I  will  put  a  stop  to  it.  I  shall  give  him  my 
orders,  and  if  he  wishes  to  stay  here,  he  must 
obey  them." 

"You  will  not  do  any  such  thing,"  said  his 
wife,  rising,  and  placing  her  hand  on  his  shoul- 
der, co  axing  ly. 

The  entrance  of  a  servant  put  an  end  to  the 
discussion. 

Whether  the  Major  was  right  or  not  as  to 
Bruce 's  general  luck,  he  was  correct  about  that 
occasion ;  for  when  Bruce  returned  he  had  not 
so  much  as  one  fish  to  show. 


165 


XIII 

IF,  however,  Bruce  had  not  had  any  good  luck 
with  fish,  he  had  had  what  he  deemed  yet 
better  fortune.  He  had  met  Margaret  Eeid 
again. 

He  was  sauntering  along  the  path  which  led 
up  the  pond,  through  the  bushes  and  pines,  when 
he  came  suddenly  upon  her  gathering  blackber- 
ries. She  turned  anS  faced  him  smilingly  as  he 
unexpectedly  appeared. 

A  man  may  become  ever  so  successful  in  after 
life;  he  may  amass  wealth,  secure  power,  and 
achieve  fame;  but  after  a  certain  age  he  can 
never  turn  a  corner  in  the  street  or  a  curve  in 
the  road,  and  meet  an  angel  face  to  face  with  the 
glory  of  heaven  all  about  her.  This  belongs  to 
youth,  and  youth  alone.  It  happened  to  Bruce. 
He  turned  a  clump  of  bushes,  and  the  dull  hill- 
side became  suddenly  transformed  with  an  inef- 
fable glory.  It  was  only  a  girl  with  a  big  straw 
hat  on  her  brown  head,  and  with  a  glow  in  her 
cheeks,  her  half-startled  look  changing  into  one 
of  pleased  surprise;  but  she  seemed  to  him  to 

166 


"  What  a  pity  we  cannot  always  have  the  thorns  cut  from 
among  the  flowers  for  us,"  she  said. 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

shed  a  radiance  around  her,  and  to  fill  the  woods 
with  light. 

He  helped  her  to  fill  the  bucket  she  had.  He 
had  had  no  idea  what  a  charming  occupation 
picking  blackberries  was.  Each  shining  berry 
became  a  treasure  and  the  smile  that  greeted  his 
success  was  a  reward  that  filled  his  heart.  The 
afternoon  sun  shone  down  sultry,  and  the  sum- 
mer air  was  still.  The  not  distant  long-drawn 
lingering  "Coo-coo,  coo-oo-oo"  of  a  dove  was 
the  only  sound  that  reached  them.  He  made 
Margaret  sit  down  in  the  shade,  and  cutting 
some  long  bits  of  the  blackberry  bush  filled  with 
white  blossoms  pealed  the  briars  from  them  for 
her  as  he  lounged  beside  her. 

Bruce  had  something  on  his  conscience  which 
he  wished  to  tell  her.  Until  this  was  done  he 
felt  uneasy.  He  could  not,  however,  see  his  way 
to  begin. 

She  took  off  her  large  hat  and  wreathed  the 
boughs  around  it. 

"What  a  pity  we  cannot  always  have  the 
thorns  cut  from  among  the  flowers  for  us,"  she 
said. 

Bruce  rose  to  his  feet. 

"I  have  something  to  tell  you,  but  I  do  not 
know  how  to  say  it,"  he  began. 

167 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

She  stood  up  and  looked  at  him  with  grave 
surprise  in  her  eyes. 

4 ' What  is  it?"  she  presently  asked. 

' l  You  know  that  my  father  has  brought  a  war- 
rant, a  suit,  against  your  grandfather? — " 

Her  face  flushed  slightly  and  her  eyes  opened 
wider.  He  saw  she  knew  all  about  it,  and  pro- 
ceeded, 

1 '  I  wish  to  tell  you — I  want  you  to  know  that 
it  was  my  fault, — that  it  was  I  who  made  him  do 
it, — who  started  it." 

Her  head  straightened  on  her  shoulders  and 
her  expression  changed.  It  was  plainly  a  shock 
to  her. 

"I  wanted  you  to  know  that  it  was  not  my 
father.  If  I  had  known  something  that  I  now 
know;  if  I  had  met  your  old  woman  before,  I 
would  never  have  done  what  I  did.  I 
would  make  any  reparation  in  the  world  I  could. 
You  don't  know  how  much  I  regret  it." 

She  suddenly  turned  away  and  began  to  cry 
quietly. 

"I  did  not  think  you  would  have  been  so 
cruel,"  she  sobbed.  "If  you  knew  how  my 
grandfather  has  suffered — how  he  bears — " 
She  could  say  no  more. 

"I  do  know.  But  I  learned  it  too  late.  I  re- 
168 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 
gret  it  more  than  I  can  tell  you.    It  was  inexcus- 
able in  me. ' ' 

He  took  hold  of  her  hand  and  kissed  it. 

"If  you  knew  how  deeply  I  regret  it,  you 
would  forgive  me." 

She  said  nothing,  but  she  did  not  draw  her 
hand  away  until  he  had  kissed  it  again. 

He  had  a  new  feeling  for  her,  and  one  which 
he  had  never  had  before  for  any  one.  He  wanted 
to  comfort  her.  He  longed  to  take  her  in  his 
arms.  Yet  he  hardly  dared  to  touch  her  hand. 
He  had  suddenly  grown  afraid  of  her.  What 
if  she  should  be  angry  with  him?  If  she  should 
not  forgive  him?  Life  seemed  to  grow  dark  at 
the  thought. 

' '  Do  you  forgive  me  ? '  ''he  asked  in  a  low  voice 
of  entreaty,  as  she  moved  slightly. 

"Yes,"  with  her  face  still  averted. 

She  was  wiping  her  eyes  like  a  little  girl.  The 
sun  once  more  came  out.  He  felt  like  a  ran- 
somed criminal. 

"I  must  go  now,"  she  said.  "I  always  give 
my  grandfather  his  cup  of  tea  in  the  afternoon ; 
he  is  so  feeble,  and  has  been  so  worried  about 
that  suit." 

"May  I  walk  home  with  you?"  He  asked  it 
as  if  she  had  the  power  of  life  and  death. 

169 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

She  allowed  him  to  walk  as  far  as  the  spring. 
He  felt  grateful  for  even  this,  and  followed  her 
humbly. 

At  the  spring  she  said  good-by,  and  held  out 
her  hand. 

He  took  it  and  pressed  it ;  and  then,  raising  it 
quickly,  pressed  it  reverently  to  his  lips. 

"  Good-by." 

She  gave  a  little  start,  and  drew  away. 

He  did  not  dare  to  look  at  her.  When  he  did 
look  up,  her  face  was  still  turned  away  from 
him,  and  she  moved  towards  the  path  which  led 
up  to  the  house.  It  was  all  that  he  could  do  not 
to  rush  after  her  and,  seizing  her  in  his  arms, 
pour  out  his  heart  to  her.  As  he  walked  home 
the  whole  earth  seemed  to  have  become  but  a 
setting  for  that  slim  girl  the  other  side  of  the 
river. 

When  Bruce  reached  home,  he  was  too  much 
filled  with  thoughts  of  Margaret  Reid  to  care 
for  other  company.  He  did  not  care  to  meet 
his  father,  who  he  knew  would  be  full  of  his  case. 
So  he  sauntered  into  the  library,  and  pretended 
to  look  over  a  book ;  but  he  found  himself  unable 
to  read,  and  he  was  sinking  into  a  drowsy  state 
of  insensibility  to  everything  around  him,  when 

170 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

he  was  aroused  by  a  rapid  step  outside,  followed 
by  a  quick  knock  on  the  door. 

' '  Come  in, ' '  he  called.  He  had  some  curiosity ; 
for  it  was  not  often  in  that  placid  atmosphere 
that  any  step  so  energetic  was  heard,  or  any 
rap  so  excited. 

A  servant  entered,  and  shutting  the  door  be- 
hind him,  stopped,  hat  in  hand.  He  was  mani- 
festly under  unusual  excitement. 

"Well,  Henry,  what  is  it!"  inquired  his  mas- 
ter. 

"I  heah  dee  's  some  trouble  gwine  on  over  on 
the  other  side  of  the  pawn,"  he  began  hesitat- 
ingly, "and  I  thought  I  'd  better  come  and  let 
marster  know." 

"Yes,  that  's  right,"  said  Bruce,  languidly. 
"What  is  it?" 

"I  don'  know,  suh.  Dick — Dick  Runaway  's 
jes'  come  home, — he  's  been  off  two  or  three 
days,— an'  he  heah  somehow  about  de  warrant- 
tryin'  to-day,  an'  he  say  he  heah  dat  after  mars- 
ter come  away  dee  all  got  to  drinkin '  at  de  grog- 
gery,  an'  dat  Pokeberry  got  'em  sort  o'  stirred 
up,  an'  Dick  Runaway  say  dee  's  gone  over  to 
old  Dr.  Browne's  to  breck  him  up, — to  tar  an' 
feather  him,  an'  burn  his  house  down." 

171 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

Bruce  sprang  to  his  feet. 

' '  What  's  that  T '  he  asked  sharply.  * '  A  mob ! 
Why  have  they  gone  there! " 

"I  don'  know,  suh.  Dick  says  dee  's  a  whole 
parcel  on  'em, ' '  said  the  negro,  looking  down  at 
the  side  of  his  shoe.  "He  say  he  heah  'em 
talkin',  an'  dee  say  't  is  cause  he  's  a  'aboli- 
tioner,'  or  some  'n';  I  don't  know  nuthin'  'bout 
it."  He  gave  a  sort  of  uneasy  laugh  at  the 
word.  "Dat  feller  Pokeberry  's  a  bad  feller," 
he  added. 

"All  right,"  said  Bruce;  "I  '11  see  about  it. 
That  's  all." 

He  turned  and  hurried  to  his  room,  and  the 
negro  retired. 

A  minute  later  Bruce  left  the  house  by  a  side 
door,  with  his  shot-gun  in  his  hand,  and  de- 
scended the  hill  towards  the  river  at  a  swift 
trot. 


172 


XIV 

TTTHEN  Margaret  had  given  her  grandfather 
V  V  his  tea,  she  went  to  her  room.  Somehow 
she  was  filled  with  a  mysterious  unrest.  What 
had  come  over  her?  She  did  not  know  herself. 
For  the  first  time  the  life  she  was  leading  failed 
to  satisfy  her ;  she  was  stifled  and  confined.  She 
had  suddenly  outgrown  her  surroundings  and 
become  miserable. 

Why  did  her  grandfather  remain  shut  up? 
she  thought!  Why  had  he  always  discounte- 
nanced her  going  out  into  the  neighborhood? 
Why  was  he  so  silent  about  her  mother?  Why 
was  he  so  strange  sometimes  ?  Oh,  if  he  should 
die  and  leave  her !  Why  were  they  so  secluded? 
Had  he  been  rich  once?  The  old  dresses  in  the 
trunks  in  the  garret  were  of  the  finest  stuffs. 
Whose  could  they  have  been?  Why  was  she 
suddenly  so  dissatisfied  and  wretched?  And, 
oh !  why  was  she  thinking  at  all  of  Bruce  Lan- 

173 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

don?  He  was  nothing  to  her.  He  must  be  infin- 
itely above  her.  She  knew  he  was ;  yet  she  did 
not  feel  it.  He  had  kissed  her  hand.  Why  had 
he  done  it?  He  had  taken  a  liberty  with  her, 
and  she  had  permitted  it,  and  now  he  despised 
her.  She  felt  sure  of  it.  She  despised  herself. 
She  would  never  see  him  again.  Yes,  she  would 
go  and  meet  him,  and  show  him  that  she  was  not 
one  to  be  kissed  and  taken  liberties  with.  She 
was  so  wretched  that  she  ended  by  throwing  her- 
self on  her  bed  and  crying  herself  to  sleep. 
When  she  awakened,  it  was  nearly  dark.  Her 
grandfather  was  calling  her. 

There  was  a  lovely,  old  curious-flowered  lawn, 
with  short  sleeves  and  a  short  waist.  She  had 
brought  it  down  from  the  garret,  and  had  tried 
it  on.  It  just  fitted  her.  It  had  lain  in  her 
dresser  ever  since.  She  took  it  out  and,  under 
an  impulse,  put  it  on.  It  was  the  first  time  she 
had  worn  anything  but  the  plain  stuff  bought 
in  the  country.  To  match  it  she  coiled  her 
abundant  hair  and  piled  it  high  on  her  head  in 
the  quaint  style  which  she  had  seen  in  the  pic- 
tures of  the  ladies  who  wore  such  gowns.  She 
could  not  help  being  pleased  at  the  result.  If 
Bruce  Landon  could  only  see  her  in  it!  She 
determined  to  surprise  her  grandfather. 

174 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"All  right;  I  'm  coming  in  a  moment, "  she 
called  cheerfully  to  him,  in  answer  to  his  impa- 
tient summons. 

When  she  walked  in,  the  old  man  nearly 
sprang  from  his  chair.  She  was  a  vision. 

"Gracious  God!  where  did  you  get  that?"  he 
gasped. 

She  told  him.  He  sank  back  in  his  chair  and 
closed  his  eyes.  A  groan  escaped  his  pale  lips. 

"What  is  it,  grandpapa?"  she  asked,  fright- 
ened at  the  effect  on  him. 

"Nothing;  only  you  startled  me,"  he  said. 

She  pressed  him. 

"I  have  made  you  an  outcast,  I  have  sold  your 
birthright, ' '  he  said  bitterly.  '  '  You  will  live  to 
curse  me." 

i '  Oh,  grandpapa ! ' '  She  kissed  him  tenderly. 
"You  are  my  all — all  I  have  in  the  world." 

"Yes,  all — all  you  have  in  the  world;  and 
when  I  have  gone,  what  will  you  have  ?  It  is  the 
same  with  every  one.  I  seem  to  have  cursed 
them  all,  to  have  put  a  blight  upon  them.  I 
have  been  cursed." 

He  was  speaking  to  himself. 

"Oh,  grandpapa,  please  don't!"  sobbed  Mar- 
garet, putting  her  hands  on  him  caressingly. 

"I  have  been  your  worst  enemy,"  groaned 
175 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

the  old  man.  i  t  If  you  knew  all,  you  would  curse 
me." 

Margaret  knelt  beside  him  and  flung  her  arms 
around  him. 

6 '  I  would  love  you  as  I  do,  better  than  all  the 
world." 

"I  hoped  you  would  escape,"  he  muttered, 
his  head  sinking  back  on  his  pillow. 

"Grandpapa,  tell  me  about  my  mother,"  she 
pleaded,  laying  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

He  became  too  agitated  to  do  so.  But  after  a 
time  he  grew  calmer. 

"She  was  an  angel,"  he  said.  And  then  he 
told  her  her  story. 

He  had  not  understood  her,  and  had  been 
too  hard  with  her;  had  opposed  her  marriage 
to  a  young  officer,  whom  she  loved,  and  she  had 
married  him  against  his  wishes.  He  was  killed 
shortly  afterwards.  But  even  then,  he  had  been 
cruel  and  had  refused  to  forgive  her.  Then 
she,  Margaret,  had  been  born,  and  she  had  sent 
for  him  to  come  and  forgive  her  before  she  died, 
and  he  had  gone  to  her,  and  reached  her  just  in 
time.  She  had  died  in  his  arms,  forgiven; 
after  she  had  placed  her  baby  in  his  hands  in 
token  of  her  love  for  him.  He  had  resigned 

176 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

from  the  navy,  bought  this  place,  and  come  here 
to  live. 

At  the  end  he  sank  back  on  his  pillow  and 
closed  his  eyes  with  a  groan. 

It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  said  so  much 
of  her,  and  the  girl's  hungry  spirit  was  feeding 
on  the  details  and  memories  the  old  gentleman 
recalled,  as-  if  they  were  the  bread  of  life. 

"Grandpapa,  was  she  beautif ul I ' *  she  asked. 

"As  an  angel,"  he  said  gravely.  "She  was 
very  like  you,  my  darling.  She  was  fitted  to 
shine  in  any  station."  The  current  of  his 
thoughts  seemed  to  change. 

"Margaret,"  he  said  suddenly,  "you  have 
met  that  young  man — young  Landon!" 

"Yes,  grandpapa,"  in  a  very  low  voice.  She 
was  glad  the  twilight  shielded  her. 

"He  is  proud  and  vain  of  his  name  and  posi- 
tion?" There  was  an  interrogation  rather  than 
an  affirmation  in  his  tone. 

"I  do  not  know — I  cannot  tell." 

"He  is  handsome  ?  and  self-confident  ? ' ' 
Again  the  interrogation. 

Her  heart  gave  a  bound  at  the  picture  the 
terms  called  up. 

"Yes,  grandpapa— exceedingly." 
177 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"It  is  the  way  with  all  of  them,"  he  mur- 
mured. "It  is  the  curse.  You  love  him?" 

"No,  grandpapa,"  with  a  little  gasp. 

"You  will  fall  in  love  with  him,"  said  the  old 
gentleman,  this  time  without  the  interrogation 
in  his  tone.  "And  he  will  not  fall  in  love  with 
you—"  he  paused,  "unless,—  unless—"  He 
broke  off.  ' '  You  will  live  to  curse  me, ' '  he  said 
bitterly.  "I  am  cursed.  I  have  always  been." 
His  head  sank  on  his  breast. 

The  girl  flung  herself  on  her  knees  beside  him, 
and,  stretching  out  her  arms,  placed  her  hands 
on  his  shoulders  and  held  him. 

"Grandpapa,"  she  said,  eagerly  lifting  her 
face,  "I  am  not  in  love  with  him;  I  will  never 
be  in  love  with  him  without  your  full  approval. 
I  promise  you  here  on  my  knees.  Oh,  Grand- 
father! Her  voice  broke.  She  laid  her  face 
against  him  and  began  to  sob.  A  moment  later 
she  raised  up.  "I  am  your  grand-daughter," 
she  said  with  pride,  '  '  and  I  will  never  be  in  love 
with  him— unless  he  is  first  in  love  with  me,  and 
then  not  without  your  consent."  She  rose  and 
seated  herself  calmly  in  her  chair. 

A  look  of  admiration  came  over  the  old  man 's 
face  that  brought  back  a  spark  of  the  fire  of 
youth. 

178 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

"He  will  be  in  love  with  you,"  he  said,  as  if 
to  himself. 

Suddenly  both  started,  as  a  strange  noise 
came  to  them  from  without. 

Any  sound  was  a  novelty  in  that  quiet  spot, 
where  even  the  cackling  of  a  hen,  the  low  of  the 
cows,  or  the  voices  of  the  birds  made  themselves 
felt  and  noted  on  the  utter  silence  of  the  place. 

But  this  noise  was  peculiar :  it  was  confused, 
unwonted,  threatening. 

Margaret's  eyes  opened  wide  as  she  sat 
straight  upright  in  her  chair,  and  turned  her 
head  to  the  window.  The  noise  swelled.  Sud- 
denly a  gun  was  fired  without,  and  loud  shouts, 
mingled  with  boisterous  laughter,  sounded  in 
the  yard.  Margaret  sprang  to  her  feet,  with  a 
white  face,  and  her  grandfather  suddenly  rose 
from  his  chair,  under  the  excitement  of  the 
moment  oblivious  of  his  rheumatism,  and  started 
to  the  door. 

"Youee— yah— ah!"  came  the  shouts  from 
without,  followed  by  loud,  boisterous  laughter; 
and  then  high  above  it  all  came  the  shrill,  ex- 
cited voice  of  old  Milly,  the  words  drowned  by 
the  confusion  and  derision  which  greeted  them. 
Margaret  pressed  close  to  her  grandfather. 

"Oh,  grandfather!  what  is  it  coming?  Who 
179 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

are  they?  What  can  they  want?  Don't  go  out, 
— please, "  as  the  old  man  started  to  the  door. 

Old  Milly's  voice  suddenly  rang  out, 

"Ole  marster." 

The  effect  was  electrical.  The  old  officer 
turned  back,  and,  reaching  up  over  the  mantel, 
seized  the  dusty  sabre  which  had  hung  there  for 
many  a  long  day,  and  strode  towards  the  door. 
Before  he  could  reach  it,  however,  the  outer 
door,  which  always  remained  unlocked,  was 
flung  open,  and  a  number  of  intruders  crowded 
pell-mell  into  the  narrow  hall  with  shouts  and 
oaths. 

"Come  out  of  your  hole,  you  old  abolition- 
ist!" they  cried. 

Margaret  started  to  spring  to  the  door  of  the 
chamber  to  lock  it,  but  before  she  could  reach 
it,  it  was  thrown  open  violently,  disclosing  a 
coarse,  burly  fellow,  his  face  blackened  as  a 
disguise,  and  with  a  long,  charred  pine  torch  in 
his  hand,  as  heavy  as  a  club ;  whilst  behind  him 
were  a  half-a-dozen  others,  also  with  blackened 
faces,  and  all  evidently  full  of  liquor. 

The  girl  shrank  back  with  a  cry  of  terror  as 
the  ruffian  in  front  broke  into  a  loud  laugh  and, 
calling  to  those  behind  to  come  on,  stepped  in 
at  the  door.  The  old  surgeon,  with  a  quick  move- 
ISO 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

ment,  put  the  girl  behind  him,  and  seizing  the 
weapon  in  both  hands,  jerked  the  sword  from 
the  rusty  scabbard.  Youth  had  suddenly  come 
back  to  his  veins;  the  emaciated  frame 
straightened,  and  the  sunken  eyes  blazed 
like  coals.  An  angry  exclamation  burst 
from  his  lips,  and  he  took  a  step  for- 
ward, about  to  dash  upon  the  mob.  But 
Margaret,  in  her  terror,  was  clinging  to  him  and 
holding  him.  As  it  was,  the  ruffians  gave  back 
at  the  sudden  transformation  and  retreated  al- 
most out  of  the  room.  They  stood  thus,  for  a 
moment,  blocking  the  door.  Then  the  blackened- 
faced  leader  called  once  more  to  his  comrades 
to  come  on,  and  with  drunken  bravado 
advanced  again  into  the  apartment,  cursing 
his  companions  for  not  backing  him.  Thjey 
were  just  closing  up  again,  when  some- 
thing occurred  outside  which  drove  the  leaders 
confusedly  several  steps  into  the  room, 
and  so  close  to  the  old  man  as  he  stood 
at  bay,  that  he  raised  his  sword  with  a  furious 
oath  to  cut  the  leader  down. 

Before  he  could  do  so,  however,  the  mob  which 
blocked  the  door  was  suddenly  split,  and  a 
young  fellow  burst  through  them,  flinging  them 
right  and  left.  He  was  bareheaded,  and  in  one 

181 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVEK 

hand  he  grasped  a  shot-gun.  As  he  sprang  into 
the  room  and  faced  about,  the  mob  fell  back, 
squeezing  out  of  the  door  as  fast  as  they  could, 
for  it  was  Bruce  Landon,  with  his  Landon  blood 
up  and  a  gun  in  his  hand. 

"Get  out  of  here,  you  ruffians  I"  he  said, 
bringing  his  gun  down  upon  them.  They  did 
not  need  this.  They  were  getting  out  as  fast  as 
they  could,  all,  at  least,  except  the  leader,  who 
was  Pokeberry  Green. 

With  the  bravado  born  of  his  brutal  nature 
inflamed  by  liquor,  he  turned  and  jerked  out  a 
pistol.  As  he  did  so,  however,  Bruce  sprang 
on  him.  The  impetus  of  the  leap  sent  him  spin- 
ning out  into  the  passage,  where,  in  the  dark, 
they  wrestled  and  struggled  for  life. 

Bruce  was  unable  to  use  one  hand  well,  as  he 
still  held  his  gun ;  but  he  had  driven  Pokeberry 
to  the  door  and  was  forcing  him  steadily  back 
when  there  was  a  deafening  report,  a  sudden 
blaze  of  light  in  his  face,  and  he  felt  a  sensation 
as  if  a  hot  needle  had  run  into  his  shoulder.  He 
sank  back,  letting  go  his  antagonist ;  but  muster- 
ing all  his  strength,  swung  his  gun  around  his 
head  with  his  uninjured  arm  and  gave  him  a 
blow  which  sent  him  staggering  backward,  out 
into  the  darkness.  He  heard  him  fall  heavily 

182 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

on  the  portico,  and  then  he  remembered  no 
more. 

The  next  thing  he  knew,  he  felt  a  soft  touch 
on  his  arm  and  was  conscious  that  his  shoulder 
hurt  him  a  good  deal,  and  that  he  was  violently 
thirsty.  Some  one  was  saying  something  in  a 
low  voice,  and  he  opened  his  eyes.  He  was  lying 
on  a  bed  with  white  curtains  around  it,  in  a  little, 
low-pitched  room.  One  arm  was  bare,  and  his 
shoulder  was  being  bandaged  by  two  persons, 
one  of  whom  was  an  old  man,  with  a  long,  white 
beard  and  eyes  set  far  back  under  his  heavy 
brows,  who  was  sitting  on  the  bed;  and  the 
other,  a  young  girl,  who  was  kneeling  beside 
him,  with  her  face  nearly  on  a  level  with  his. 
Her  hands  were  busy  with  the  bandages,  one  on 
his  arm  and  one  holding  the  roll.  Her  face  was 
very  grave  and  solicitous.  When  he  first  opened 
his  eyes  her  dark  lashes  were  almost  lying  on 
her  cheek,  as  she  looked  down  at  her  work. 
As  he  moved,  however,  she  glanced  at  his 
face,  and  as  she  caught  his  gaze,  her  great 
dark  eyes  suddenly  lit  up,  lighting  her  whole 
face.  Bruce  never  forgot  the  look,  nor  the  sen- 
sation of  her  soft  hand  on  his  arm. 

"I  must  get  up,"  he  said  immediately;  but 
both  voices,  at  once,  insisted  that  he  must  do 

183 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

nothing  of  the  kind;  the  old  man,  with  grave 
decision,  and  the  girl,  with  sweet  earnestness. 
As  Bruce  was  feeling  weak,  he  sank  back  and 
languidly  gazed  at  the  two  or  three  old  slender 
chairs,  and  the  thin-legged  table,  on  which  were 
a  few  books,  and  a  bowl  filled  with  jonquils, 
which  shone  like  gold  against  the  snowy  drap- 
ery of  the  dresser  beyond. 


184 


XV 


BRUCE 'S  wound  proved,  after  all,  not  to  be 
serious;  and  he  walked  home  next  day, 
though  he  was  pallid  and  feeble  from  loss  of 
blood. 

Bruce,  however,  would  not  have  cared  how 
long  he  had  to  remain  a  patient  in  that  hospital. 
His  hours  of  convalescence  were  all  too  brief. 
They  were  hurried  by  the  presence  of  a  nurse 
who  would  have  made  any  pain  endurable  and 
any  languors  sweet.  As  she  came  in  and  out, 
her  slim  hands  bearing  some  dainty  dish  pre- 
pared by  the  old  colored  mammy  under  her  di- 
rection, and  Bruce  dared  hope  with  her  aid, 
her  face  in  its  serene  gravity  a  study  on  which 
the  young  man  could  exhaust  his  imagination,  he 
blessed  the  shot  that  had  brought  him  there,  and 
gave  himself  up  to  his  dreams.  Was  ever  a 
man  so  blessed !  Was  ever  a  nurse  so  dainty,  so 
beautiful  and  so  bewitching!  He  feigned 
to  be  in  pain  only  to  have  a  shadow  of 
sympathetic  suffering  flit  across  that  snowy 
brow  with  the  brown  hair  growing  there  in  such 

185 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

tender  curves,  and  to  be  weaker  than  he  was 
only  to  have  her  arrange  his  pillow  and  smooth 
his  coverlid.  She  was  Saint  Theresa  and  Saint 
Ursula  in  one,  in  fact,  she  was  just  a  beautiful 
young  saint,  more  lovely  and  more  holy  than  all 
that  legend  told  of  and  he  canonized  her  in  his 
heart,  selfishly  rejoicing  that  she  was  only  his. 

Margaret,  on  her  part,  had  her  dreams  also. 
Had  he  not  come  like  a  Heaven-sent  angel  to  aid 
them  in  the  hour  of  their  need — a  Paladin  like 
one  of  old  who  with  his  single  arm  had  protected 
them  and  driven  out  the  horde  of  ruffians  who 
might  have  sacked  their  house !  Was  ever  such 
courage,  such  prowess !  She  pictured  to  herself 
over  again  the  vision  of  his  first  appearance  in 
that  dreadful  hour  when  he  stood  facing  the 
mob  with  blazing  eyes  and  tense,  proud 
face  in  which  anger  and  courage  and  resolution 
all  flamed.  Then  that  other  picture  came  when 
with  white  face  proud  and  resolute  even  in  its 
unconsciousness  he  lay  on  the  floor  at  her  feet 
and  she  thought  he  was  dead. 

At  the  memory  she  grew  more  tender  and 
fancied  some  sudden  need  that  she  might  have 
the  happiness  of  ministering  to  kim. 

As  Bruce,  after  a  little,  found  himself 
stronger  his  nurse  was  transformed  into  a  com- 

186 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

panion,  and  Bruce  had  a  novel  experience.  He 
discovered  in  her  a  new  charm.  Margaret's  se- 
cluded life  had  largely  cut  her  off  from  associa- 
tion with  others  of  her  age  and  had  thrown  her 
for  companionship  largely  on  her  reading  and 
her  reflections.  As  a  result  she  was  interested 
rather  in  things  than  in  persons  and  her  con- 
versation instead  of  being  confined  to  petty  per- 
sonalities like  that  of  most  of  her  kind  and  age 
was  rather  of  higher  things.  Bruce  unexpect- 
edly became  aware  that  he  was  talking  to  some 
one  who  had  really  thought  and  had  ideas  of 
her  own.  He  found  himself  in  the  presence  of 
intellect  and  recognized  that  it  was  necessary  to 
use  his  intellect  if  he  wished  to  hold  his  place  in 
her  esteem.  To  find  a  girl  who  was  prompt  in  her 
judgment  that  "The  Rape  of  the  Lock"  was  a 
better  poeifi  than  the  "Essay  on  Man,"  and  that 
"The  Heart  of  Midlothian"  was  a  finer  novel 
than  "Ivanhoe"  and  was  prepared  to  back  up 
her  judgment  with  sundry  sound  reasons,  was 
sufficiently  novel  in  the  young  man 's  experience. 
And  when  she  touched  on  nearer  and  more  prac- 
tical matters,  he  was  even  more  astonished.  He 
had  inherited  most  of  his  opinions  as  he  had  in- 
herited his  religion.  He  had  accepted  them  with- 
out really  thinking  about  them.  To  find  a  young 

187 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

girl  questioning  them  and  seriously  thinking  of 
the  reasons  for  things  which  he  had  always  as- 
sumed to  be  unquestionable  astonished  him  and 
startled  him  somewhat.  Hitherto  he  had  never 
thought  of  a  girl  but  as  a  beautiful  thing  to  ad- 
mire, to  protect  and  to  love;  an  ornament  of 
life,  a  flower  for  a  man  to  wear  and  enjoy.  But 
here  was  some  one  who  was  wholly  new  to  his 
experience.  Here  was  intellect  as  well  as 
beauty.  Also  here  were  ideas  so  novel  that  they 
surprised  and  mystified  him.  Where  could  she 
have  gotten  her  notion  which  she  stated  so  sim- 
ply that  slavery  was  not  a  perpetual  nor  a  di- 
vine institution  and  that  it  would  some  day  be 
abolished  and  all  the  negroes  be  free !  This  was 
in  direct  variance  with  all  the  teaching  Bruce 
had  ever  received.  Of  course,  he  knew  that  there 
was  a  growing  element  in  the  North;  who,  now 
that  they  had  gotten  rid  of  their  own  slaves, 
wanted  to  take  the  slaves  from  the  Southerners, 
but  under  that,  as  he  had  always  heard,  was 
sheer  envy  and,  even  there  the  great  body  of 
the  people  recognized  the  rights  of  the  South. 
Did  not  the  Bible  teach  slavery!— St.  Paul  and 
all  of  them1? 

"Well,  if  it  did/'  said  this  serene-faced  little 
philosopher,  "it  must  have  been  only  as  a  hu- 

188 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

man  institution  which  was  allowed  rather  than 
inculcated.  St.  Paul  had  to  take  a  good  many 
things  as  he  found  them — and  the  great  teach- 
ing of  the  church  was  for  a  new  and  moral  life. 
The  good  God  has  told  us  to  love  Him  with  all 
our  heart  and  soul  and  mind,  and  our  neighbor 
as  ourself,  and  this  cannot  be  with  slavery.  You 
would  not  want  any  one  to  hold  you  in  slavery  I" 

It  crossed  the  young  man's  mind  as  his  eyes 
rested  on  the  earnest  face  before  him  with  its 
delicious  coloring,  the  eyes  full  of  light,  the 
face  glowing  with  earnestness,  that  there  might 
be  a  slavery  which  he  might  find  endurable  and 
that  its  soft  chains  were  fast  binding  him;  but 
she  was  too  serious  to  allow  changing  the  sub- 
ject and  with  a  smile  which  was  half  a  sigh,  at 
putting  by  so  fair  an  opportunity,  he  maintained 
that  there  was  a  great  difference  between  a 
white  man  and  others.  He  found  his  argument 
a  little  upset  by  her  observation  that  the  slavery 
St.  Paul  had  mentioned  was  that  of  white  peo- 
ple. 

Then  Bruce  being  driven  from  one  line  of  de- 
fence resorted  to  an  argument  not  unusual  with 
men. 

"But,  you  have  slaves  1"  he  began — 

"They  are  not  mine,"  she  said  quietly,  "and 
189 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

they  know  that  whenever  they  wish  it  they  can 
go.- 

1  i  Some  of  ours  go  anyhow — we  have  an  incor- 
rigible runaway.  He  has  even  gotten  the  name 
of  Eunaway  Dick  from  his  love  of  freedom. ' ' 

"I  know  him,"  said  the  girl.  "Why  do  you 
not  set  him  free?" 

"Oh!  he  is  free  enough.  He  goes  off  when- 
ever he  likes — but  how  on  earth  did  you  come 
to  know  him?"  He  thought  of  Dick's  having 
brought  the  news  of  the  attack  on  them  by  the 
mob. 

"Oh!  he  has  been  here  once  or  twice  to  get 
food  or  medicine  when  he  was  sick — " 

"Do  you  not  know  that  it  is  breaking  the  law 
to  give  food  or  shelter  to  a  runaway ! ' '  laughed 
Bruce. 

"No,  I  did  not.  Is  it!  Then  I  think  it  a  meri- 
torious act  to  evade  such  an  iniquitous  law, ' '  she 
said  warmly,  her  eyes  lighting  up. 

"I  think  so,  too.  You  need  not  look  at  me 
that  way.  In  fact,  Dick  is  free  in  all  but  name. 
As  for  that  matter,  most  of  our  negroes  are." 

"That  is  the  trouble — there  is  a  wide  differ- 
ence between  the  two.  Have  you  ever  read 
1  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin'!"  she  asked  suddenly. 

"No.  I  would  not  read  such  a  book.  It  is  a 
190 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

travesty  of  Southern  life— a  jumble  of  libels  on 
the  South." 

"How  do  you  know  that  if  you  have  never 
read  it?" 

"I  have  heard  so.  Every  one  says  so.  Why 
when  it  came  out  a  few  years  ago  all  the  papers 
took  it  up  and  discussed  it  and  they  all  agreed. ' ' 

"I  think  a  man  ought  to  form  his  own  judg- 
ment on  matters  and  not  take  the  opinions 
formed  by  others.  A  girl  may  have  to  accept 
opinions  formed  for  her,  for  she  may  not  have 
an  opportunity  to  form  her  own  opinions  and 
then  her  mistakes  do  not  reach  so  far— But  if 
I  were  a  man!" 

Bruce  winced.  The  flashing  eyes  and  little 
hand  grown  suddenly  tense  were  very  persua- 
sive. 

1 1  Of  course,  I  shall  read  it,'' '  he  said  grandly. 
"Did  you  find  it  interesting!" 

"Intensely.  It  gives  a  dreadful  picture  of 
slavery  in  the  far  South;  of  evils  which  exist 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  kind  masters  and  mis- 
tresses everywhere.  My  grandfather  says  it 
has  rung  the  knell  of  slavery. ' ' 

"Why,  old  Mr.  Strang  preaches  that  slavery 
is  not  only  of  divine  origin;  but  will  exist  in  the 
millennium,"  said  Bruce  laughing. 

191 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"How  can  he  be  so  wicked  and  so  foolish!" 
exclaimed  Margaret.  "As  if  he  knew  the  inten- 
tions of  the  good  God!" 

' '  Well,  he  is  not  very  wise,  I  grant, ' '  defended 
Bruce  with  a  vivid  recollection  of  many  dreary 
hours  spent  on  a  hard  pew  under  his  sonorous 
ministrations;  "but  he  certainly  is  not  wicked. 
He  is  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  world  and  even 
you  could  not  be  more  kind  in  your  practical 
application  of  the  golden  rule." 

"I  think  that  a  man  is  accountable  for  his 
teachings,"  persisted  the  girl,  "and  often  what 
a  man  says  is  more  lasting  than  his  actions — 
especially  in  the  pulpit." 

"I  do  not  know  about  that.  Mr.  Strang's  life 
is  certainly  his  best  sermon.  Once  when  he 
broke  through  a  bridge  and  all  his  sermons  got 
wet,  my  father  said  that  no  great  harm  was 
done  for  they  'd  all  get  dry  again. ' ' 

The  girl  laughed,  and  further  discussion  was 
interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  her  grandfather, 
who  came  to  see  how  the  patient  was. 

"What  are  you  doing  disobeying  my  or- 
ders 1 "  he  said  with  a  smile  to  his  grand-daugh- 
ter. "Did  I  not  caution  you  against  tiring 
him?" 

Bruce 's  assertion  that  he  was  not  only  not 
192 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

tired  but  was  improved  by  the  conversation,  cer- 
tainly had  the  merit  of  sincerity. 

1 '  Well,  I  think  you  are  doing  very  well — very 
well  indeed, ' '  said  the  old  man,  ' l  and  they  have 
sent  over  for  you  from — your  home." 

Bruce 's  heart  sank.  Had  he  to  leave  that  asy- 
lum—that nurse!  For  a  fraction  of  a  second  his 
feeling  against  his  assailant  of  the  evening  be- 
fore was  regret  that  his  bullet  had  not  gone  a 
shade  deeper.  He  glanced  at  Margaret.  She  had 
turned  and  was  looking  out  of  the  window,  so 
that  he  could  not  see  her  face ;  but  he  hoped 
from  her  attitude  that  she  was  sorry  to  have 
him  leave. 

"Tell  them  I  will  walk  home,"  he  said. 
There  was  a  little  demurring  on  the  old  sur- 
geon's part,  and  Margaret  began  to  protest 
warmly;  but  Bruce  was  determined  to  show 
that  he  was  not  a  milksop  and  the  Doctor 
yielded,  admitting  that  he  did  not  think  the 
walk  would  hurt  him. 

There  was  intense  excitement  at  Landon  Hall 
when  next  morning  the  fact  that  he  had  been 
shot  was  known,  even  though  it  was  reported 
that  the  wound  was  not  at  all  serious. 
His  father  was  in  a  consuming  fury.  He 
vowed  that  he  would  at  once  have  the 

193 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

entire  gang  of  ruffians  arrested  and  sent  to  the 
penitentiary.  He  was  only  restrained  by  the 
knowledge  that  to  do  this  it  would  be  necessary 
to  bring  out  the  fact  of  Bruce 's  presence  on  the 
occasion;  and  this  he  was  unwilling  to  do.  He 
could  not  tolerate  the  idea  of  his  name  being 
dragged  into  public  in  connection  with  one  whom 
he  detested.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  his 
publicly  denouncing  the  affair  in  terms  little 
short  of  violent. 

That  such  an  outrage  should  have  been  perpe- 
trated in  his  immediate  neighborhood,  under 
his  very  nose,  and,  as  it  were,  actually  on  the 
borders  of  his  own  plantation,  was  a  crime  not 
to  be  overlooked.  The  Major  had  no  conception 
that  his  words  had  borne  a  part  in  the  instiga- 
tion of  the  act:  they  had  been  spoken  in  heat, 
and  he  had  never  given  a  thought  to  them  since. 
Indeed,  he  could  not  have  been  induced  to  believe 
that  any  connection  existed  between  them  and 
the  outrageous  act  which  had  been  perpetrated. 
Words  were  one  thing, — every  man  had  a  right 
to  talk  and  express  his  opinion;  but  to  go  and 
break  into  a  man's  house  in  the  night,  and  at- 
tempt to  drag  him  out— why,  it  was  monstrous ! 
He  would  have  gone  over  to  Dr.  Browne's  and 
have  advised  him  to  have  the  whole  set  of  ruf- 

194 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

fians  arrested,  but  he  had  sworn  that  he  would 
never  set  his  foot  on  the  place  until 
he  owned  it.  He  contented  himself,  there- 
fore, with  riding  about  the  neighborhood, 
denouncing  the  whole  affair  with  all  the  vigor 
of  a  somewhat  picturesque  vocabulary,  and 
threatening  to  go  to  court  himself  and  have 
every  scoundrel  in  the  party  indicted. 

Indeed,  more  than  once  he  found  some  of  the 
perpetrators  as  he  believed,  and  gave  his  opinion 
of  their  act  in  such  forcible  terms  that  they 
slunk  away  with  blanched  faces.  Pokeberry,  he 
publicly  affirmed,  ought  to  be  hanged,  and  he 
openly  prophesied  that  he  would  be,  only  ex- 
pressing his  fear  that  some  untoward  accident 
might  cheat  the  gallows  out  of  its  due. 

The  old  gentleman  was  at  heart  intensely 
pleased  at  Bruce 's  rescue  of  his  neighbors,  and 
behind  his  back  referred  to  his  courage  and  de- 
cision as  having  held  at  bay  a  large  mob  and  as 
having  been  worthy  of  a  Landon. 

This,  however,  did  not  prevent  him  from 
being  very  scornful  to  Bruce  himself  about 
his  sudden  appearance  at  "old  Browne's" 
and  his  engaging  in  a  disreputable  brawl, 
when,  not  long  subsequently,  he  found  Bruce, 
one  afternoon,  with  his  arm  still  in  a 

195 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVEE 

sling,  returning  from  that  side  of  the  stream, 
without  even  the  time-worn  excuse  of  a 
fishing-rod.  He  flung  a  caustic  gibe  at  him  about 
engaging  in  permanent  rivalry  with  his  friend 
Pokeberry.  Bruce 's  face,  which  had  flushed 
with  self-consciousness  on  coming  unexpectedly 
on  his  father,  turned  a  sudden  white.  He  was 
in  no  mood  for  jesting;  for  he  had  been  waiting 
and  watching  in  vain  all  the  long  afternoon  in 
the  hope  of  catching  a  glimpse  of  the  face  which 
now  never  left  his  mind  during  his  waking 
hours.  He  started  to  reply;  but  by  a  strong 
effort  controlled  himself,  and,  turning  away, 
walked  home. 

The  Major,  on  reaching  the  house,  sought  his 
wife  and  held  a  long  interview  with  her.  He 
would  as  soon  not  have  confessed  his  shortcom- 
ings to  the  Deity  as  to  his  wife.  As  a  result  of 
this  conference  he,  after  tea,  sent  for  Bruce,  and 
had  a  short  interview  with  him.  It  began  inaus- 
piciously ;  for  both  were  heated  at  the  start.  In 
the  first  place,  Bruce  knocked  at  the  door  of  the 
library,  where  his  father  was.  This  offended 
the  old  gentleman,  who  was  in  a  mood  in  which 
he  might  have  been  offended  if  he  had  not 
knocked. 

196 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

"You  are  formal,"  he  said  coldly,  as  the 
young  man  entered,  and  remained  standing. 

"I  thought  it  was  a  formal  interview  to  which 
I  was  invited,  sir,"  said  Bruce,  with  marked 
dignity. 

"It  depends  upon  you,"  said  the  Major. 
"Take  a  seat;  I  wish  to  speak  to  you." 

He  came  to  the  point  quickly. 

"Bruce,"  he  said,  "I  want  you  to  go  abroad." 

The  young  man  started.  Go  abroad,  and 
never  see  Margaret  Reid  again ! 

His  father  continued: 

"I  want  you  to  go  abroad  at  once.  I  will  give 
you  all  the  money  you  wish  to  spend,  and  you 
can  be  as  independent  as  you  please.  You 
already  have  many  pleasant  acquaintances  in 
England  and  France ;  and  I  feel  sure  that  I  can 
secure  for  you  a  position  as  secretary  with  one 
of  the  legations,— perhaps,  in  one  of  those  coun- 
tries. It  will  furnish  you  something  to  do,  and 
give  you  official  position. ' ' 

He  ended,  and  looked  at  Bruce  hopefully.  He 
had  got  through  better  than  he  had  expected. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you, ' '  said  Bruce, 
with  great  urbanity.  ' '  But  I  don 't  want  to  go. ' ' 

The  Major's  calm  forsook  him. 

197 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"Well,  sir,  I  order  you  to  go." 

"May  I  ask,  sir,  why  you  propose  to  take  me 
up  and  banish  me  like  an  exile!  Why  not  shut 
me  up  on  a  lettre  de  cachet?"  inquired  the 
young  man. 

"Yes,  sir,  you  may.  It  is  because  you  are 
throwing  away  your  life  in  an  idle,  worthless 
fashion ;  associating  with  people  who  are  not  fit 
associates  for  a  gentleman;  consorting  with  an 
unknown  young  woman;  making  yourself  the 
talk  of  the  country,  and  dragging  your  name, 
which  is  an  honorable  one,  into  the  vulgar  gos- 
sip at  every  Crossroads  groggery  in  the  neigh- 
borhood!" His  sentences  were  shot  out  one 
after  the  other. 

Bruce  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"It  is  not  true,"  he  said  angrily;  then  quali- 
fied it.  "You  are  not  speaking  of  your  own 
knowledge;  and  whoever  has  informed  you  has 
said  what  is  false.  Miss  Reid  is  a  lady — " 

"Not  so,  sir,"  retorted  the  Major.  "It  is 
true,  and  I  do  speak  of  my  own  knowledge :  even 
the  negroes  are  talking  about  it.  It  is  a  dis- 
grace; and  whether  you  go  to  Europe  or  not, 
I  forbid  you  ever  to  go  again  to  that  place.  You 
cannot  be  going  to  marry  the  young  woman,  and 
I  will  not  stand  any  disgrace.  If  I  hear  of  you 

198 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

doing  anything  disgraceful  I  will  cut  you  off 
with  a  shilling.  What  is  more,  I  will  not  have 
my  name  dragged  into  the  mire  of  low  scandal- 
mongering,  and  if  you  go  again,  you  go  at  your 
peril. "  He  turned  to  leave. 

Bruce 's  face  turned  white. 

'  '  You  do  not  know  what  you  are  talking  about. 
I  am  a  gentleman." 

The  Major  made  a  gesture. 

"I  refuse  to  be  dictated  to  as  if  I  were  a 
negro, "  said  the  young  man.  "I  will  go  wher- 
ever and  whenever  I  please." 

"At  your  peril." 

The  Major,  without  awaiting  his  answer,  left 
the  room,  leaving  him  to  reflect  on  his  words. 

The  next  morning  the  Major  mounted  his 
horse  and  rode  down  upon  the  river,  with  an 
expression  on  his  face  which  bespoke  something 
extraordinary.  He  was  dressed  in  immaculate 
linen  from  throat  to  heel,  and  carried  a  light 
umbrella.  His  face  above  his  high  collar  was 
unusually  severe.  Everything  that  he  saw  was 
wrong.  His  overseer  told  him  "that  fellow 
Dick  Runaway"  had  gone  off  again  the  night 
before,  the  second  time  in  three  months.  He 
"ought  to  sell  him;  he  could  not  do  anything 
with  him."  He  "believed  that  old  man  over 

199 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

across  the  pond  hired  him  to  take  care  of  Ms 
cows;  knew  he  harbored  him."  The  Major  was 
inclined  to  believe  so  too,  but  scouted  the  notion 
to  the  overseer.  He  was  not  agreeing  with  any 
one  just  then.  However,  he  vowed  he  would  not 
stand  Dick  any  longer.  He  would  not  have  a 
runaway  negro.  He  would  sell  him  as  soon  as 
he  was  caught. 

The  overseer  was  so  elated  that  he  made  a 
slip.  He  did  n  't  know  anybody  who  could  catch 
him  except  Pokeberry ;  should  he  tell  Poteberry 
to  go  after  him? 

The  mention  of  Pokeberry  touched  the  Major 
into  flame. 

Pokeberry!  that  scoundrel!  No;  he  hoped 
if  he  went  after  Dick,  Dick  would  kill  him;  he 
would  spend  every  dollar  of  his  estate  defend- 
ing him  if  he  did.  He  had  brought  him  home 
once  tied  like  a  calf  in  a  butcher's  wagon,  the 
inhuman  scoundrel.  He  would  rather  never 
have  Dick  back,  rather  lose  every  negro  on  his 
place,  than  have  that  ruffian  go  after  him  again. 

He  left  the  overseer  speechless  and  over- 
whelmed. 

!Af ter  finding  fault  with  everything  he  saw,  he 
rode  up  the  river,  through  the  woods.  It  was 
spring,  and  the  trees  were  still  fresh  and  tender, 

200 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

their  varied  tints  looking  in  the  landscape  like 
vast  flowers.  The  old  road,  so  long  unused,  was  in 
many  places  grown  up  in  bushes,  the  leafy  limbs 
meeting  across  the  path,  so  that  the  Major,  to 
pass  under  them,  had  frequently  to  lean  down 
on  his  bay  horse's  neck.  Still  he  pushed  on,  and 
it  was  only  when  he  came  to  the  narrow  ford 
across  the  stream  at  the  head  of  the  pond  that 
he  paused. 

There  he  stopped,  irresolute.  The  old  car- 
riage-way down  to  the  stream  on  his  side  and  up 
on  the  other  had  been  washed  into  two  cuts; 
but  they  were  covered  with  old  leaves,  and  a 
spreading  dogwood  filled  with  snowy  bloom  was 
growing  right  in  the  middle  of  the  cut.  The 
Major  looked  across.  He  had  not  passed  that 
boundary  for  fifteen  years.  On  the  other  side, 
the  track  was  even  less  distinct  than  on  his ;  for 
young  pines  were  growing  up  in  it.  He  looked 
beyond  the  stream,  and  then,  as  if  undecided, 
glanced  back  in  the  direction  from  which  he  had 
come.  Suddenly  he  tightened  the  rein,  and  giv- 
ing the  hesitating  horse  the  whip,  rode  down  to 
the  water,  went  floundering  through  the  narrow, 
miry  stream,  and  pushed  on  up  the  long-unused 
track.  The  struggle  that  it  had  cost  to  bring 
him  across  had  brought  a  cloud  on  the  Major's 

201 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

face ;  his  brows  were  knit,  and  now,  as  he  walked 
his  horse  along,  his  look  was  grim  enough.  To 
think  that  this  was  the  home  of  his  fathers,  the 
cradle  of  his  race ;  held  by  an  alien ;  allowed  to 
grow  up  in  a  wilderness;  worse  than  any  poor 
white 's  place !  It  was  enough  to  make  his  father 
turn  in  his  grave.  Why,  those  blackguards  were 
right, — were  almost  right,— had  some  excuse 
for  trying  to  drive  him  off.  If  he  were  not  an 
abolitionist,  he  was  worse.  And  to  think  of  his 
son  stooping  to  be  in  love  with  this  man's  grand- 
daughter! It  was  a  disgrace!  He  could  not 
sustain  the  thought  of  it.  He  would  cut  him  off 
with  a  shilling  if  he  ever  set  foot  on  the  place 
again.  Things  had  gone  too  far.  He  would 
stand  no  more !  Pines  everywhere !  He  would 
see  the  young  woman  and  settle  the  matter  for 
good  and  all.  She  would  hardly  fail  to  accede 
to  his  wishes ;  few  could.  If  she  did,— if  she  was 
brazen,  why,  he  would  buy  her  off. 

He  passed  over  the  hill  through  pines  all  the 
way,  and  beyond  where  the  fence  used  to  be.  It 
was  all  rotted  now,  and  he  rode  on  through  the 
thicket  towards  the  house.  Just  as  he  arrived 
in  sight  of  an  opening  some  distance  ahead, 
which  he  knew  must  be  the  yard,  he  came  in 
view  of  some  one  walking  along  the  path  before 

202 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

him, — a  young  woman.  A  large  straw  Hat  con- 
cealed her  head,  and  she  carried  a  basket  on  her 
arm.  She  was  tall  and  evidently  young,  and  it 
occurred  to  the  Major,  as  he  did  not  know  her, 
that  she  was  some  visitor.  Hearing  his  horse, 
she  turned  hastily  and  looked  back,  but  was  too 
far  distant  for  him  to  see  her  face;  then  she 
quickened  her  step.  The  Major,  wishing  to  get 
her  to  bear  a  message,  pushed  his  horse  to  a  trot 
to  overtake  her.  He  came  up  to  her  just  as  she 
reached  the  rude  "bars"  of  small  unbarked  pine 
poles,  which,  to  keep  the  cows  in,  were  thrown 
across  the  road  between  the  two  old  gate-posts 
which  had  once  formed  the  entrance  to  the  yard. 

"I  say,— good  morning,"  said  the  Major,  sit- 
ting in  an  easy  posture  on  his  handsome  bay  and 
gazing  ahead  at  the  old  house  which  could  just 
be  seen  through  the  trees.  He  did  not  even  look 
at  her. 

'  *  Can  you  take  a  message  for  me  to  the  young 
woman  in  there,— Dr.  Browne's  grand-daugh- 
ter, Miss  Browne,  or  whatever  her  name  is?" 

"I  am  Dr.  Browne's  grand-daughter,"  said 
the  young  woman,  in  a  placid,  melodious  voice, 
turning  up  to  him  a  face  a  little  flushed  with  the 
excitement  of  the  unexpected  meeting;  but  with 
calm,  dark  eyes  under  straight  black  brows,  and 

203 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

with  a  certain  look  which  the  Major  thought  of 
afterwards  and  which  made  him  forget  all  else. 

' '  Oh !  ah !  ah !  You  don 't  say  so !  I  beg  your 
pardon,  I  'm  sure,"  he  began,  and  before  he 
knew  it  he  had  dismounted  and  was  standing 
down  on  the  ground  with  his  hat  in  his  hand. 

How  awkward  it  was,  and  how  like  a  fool  he 
felt !  Why,  she  was  a  beauty  and  quite  a  lady. 
What  the  deuce  should  he  say ! 

" It  is  a  very  fine  day— ah! "  he  began,  wish- 
ing himself  at  home,  or  in  perdition,  or  any- 
where but  where  he  was. 

"Yes,  I  have  been  enjoying  it,"  she  said 
placidly,  looking  him  full  in  the  eyes,  her  face  a 
little  lifted  and  slightly  flushed,  her  eyes  wide, 
and  her  lips  the  least  bit  compressed. 

How  melodious  her  voice  was!  Quite  like  a 
lady's  voice,  thought  the  Major.  He  made  a 
remark  about  the  flowers  she  had  in  her  basket, 
rather  to  gain  time  and  avoid  coming  to  the 
point  than  because  they  pleased  him  particu- 
larly. He  was  embarrassed  by  finding  her  so 
different  from  what  he  expected,  so  self-pos- 
sessed, and  undeniably  beautiful. 

"Yes?"  with  a  rising  inflection.  She  looked 
down  at  them  gravely,  and  reaching  her  hand 
around  instinctively  arranged  them  in  the  bas- 
ket. Then  she  looked  at  him  inquiringly. 

204 


He  was  embarrassed  by  finding  her  so  different 
from  what  he  expected. 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

There  was  no  hope  for  it ;  he  must  go  on. 

"I — I—.  If  you  will  allow  me,  I  will  put  on 
my  hat;  the  sun  is  a  little  warm,"  he  said,  fal- 
tering. 

She  bowed. 

"Certainly." 

"I— I — I  came  to  speak  to  you  about  my  son," 
began  the  Major,  and  paused. 

Her  face  flushed  a  little,  and  she  drew  in  her 
breath  in  a  startled  way,  the  lips  growing  just 
a  shade  more  compressed. 

He  looked  away,  and  then  growing  angry  with 
himself,  began  rapidly. 

"I  want  to  say  something  to  you  about  my 
son,  Mr.  Bruce  Landon?" 

There  was  a  shade  of  interrogation  in  his 
tone,  and  she  bowed  slightly  to  show  that  she 
understood  him.  She  was  standing  very 
straight. 

"My  son  is — is  a  gentleman—"  He  paused, 
abashed  at  his  speech. 

"Damnably  unlike  his  father  on  this  present 
occasion,"  he  thought  suddenly,  almost  amused 
at  the  reflection.  Then  he  added  in  a  softer 
tone, 

"He  is  my  only  son,  and-  I— I  have  plans 
for  him,  and  I  wanted — "  He  paused. 

"Yes?"  she  bowed  inquiringly,  still  looking 
205 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

him  full  in  the  face  with  that  embarrassing,  un- 
flinching gaze  from  her  eyes. 

"I  don't  want  you  to  marry  him,"  blurted 
out  the  Major,  desperately. 

" Neither  do  I.  You  need  have  no  fear;  I 
have  no  idea  of  marrying  him, ' '  she  said  quietly, 
never  taking  her  eyes  from  his  face.  Her  head 
straightened  on  her  shoulders  just  a  little. 

The  Major  almost  staggered.  She  refuse 
Bruce!  His  son!  Impossible! 

"He  is  my  only  son,  and  I  have  made  plans 
for  him,"  explained  the  Major  again  lamely,  in 
impotent  contempt  for  himself. 

"I  will  not  prevent  your  carrying  them  out," 
she  said,  raising  her  head  perceptibly,  and 
standing  more  erect  than  she  had  done.  ' i  I  will 
never  marry  him." 

"You  are  far  too  good  for  him,"  he  began, 
feeling  that  some  amend  was  to  be  made  her. 
"I  regret  having  to  say  what  I  have  done — "  he 
was  going  on ;  but  the  girl  drew  herself  up,  and, 
without  taking  her  eyes  from  his  face,  said, 

' l  You  know  nothing  about  me. ' '  Then  as  the 
Major  paused  abashed,  added,  still  in  the  same 
modulated  voice, 

"Is  that  all?" 

206 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"Yes,"  said  the  Major,  in  a  crestfallen  tone, 
gathering  up  his  bridle-reins. 

"I  am  sorry — "  he  began,  but  again  her  look 
stopped  him.  He  dared  not  apologize. 

She  backed  slightly  away.  It  might  have  been 
to  get  out  of  the  reach  of  his  horse ;  but  it  seemed 
to  the  Major  as  if  a  queen  were  ending  an  aud- 
ience. 

1 l  Good-by.  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you, ' ' 
said  the  old  gentleman,  in  a  rather  subdued  tone, 
putting  on  his  hat  and  turning  to  mount. 

"Good  day."  She  turned  and  walked  slowly 
towards  the  house. 

The  Major  rode  off  at  a  gallop,  feeling  more 
contempt  for  himself  than  he  ever  had  done  in 
his  life. 

Who  was  she  like? 


207 


XVI 

THE  Major  had  pulled  in  his  horse  and  was 
riding  through  the  pines  in  deep  reflection, 
when  a  large  man  stepped  suddenly  out  of  the 
thick  growth  beside  the  way  into  the  narrow 
path  just  before  him,  facing  him.  The  sudden 
apparition  caused  the  spirited  horse  that  the 
Major  rode  to  bound  and  half  wheel  around;  but 
the  practised  hand  on  the  bridle  brought  him 
back.  It  was  Pokeberry  Green,  and  as  usual  he 
carried  his  long,  double-barrelled  gun  in  the 
hollow  of  his  left  arm.  He  stood,  glowering, 
right  in  the  middle  of  the  road. 

The  Major's  anger  rose. 

' '  What  do  you  mean,  sir,  by  jumping  out  of 
the  bushes  in  that  manner  in  front  of  a  gentle- 
man's horse?  Have  you  no  sense  left!  Get  out 
of  the  way,  and  let  me  come  by. ' ' 

"I  want  to  see  you,"  growled  Pokeberry. 

4  *  Well,  it  's  more  than  I  do  you.  What  do 
you  want  to  see  me  about?" 

"I  hear,"  he  began  angrily,  "that  you  said 
I  was  in  that  mob  that  went  t'other  night  to  old 

208 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

man  Browne's  and  broke  in  his  house?"  His 
manner  was  very  threatening,  and  he  looked 
thoroughly  dangerous. 

"Well,  you  heard  right,"  said  the  Major, 
boldly;  "I  did  say  so.  And  I  said  furthermore 
that  you  ought  to  be  prosecuted  and  sent  to  the 
penitentiary,  and  I  will  have  it  done  if  you  don't 
look  out.  It  's  an  outrage  that  such  a  scoundrel 
should  be  allowed  to  run  free.  You  are  a  dis- 
grace to  the  neighborhood." 

The  man  with  an  angry  oath  suddenly  cocked 
his  gun,  and,  flinging  it  a  little  forward,  started 
to  raise  it. 

If  the  Major  had  quailed  ever  so  little,  mur- 
der would  have  been  done  on  the  spot.  But  he 
did  not.  The  menacing  act  of  the  ruffian  simply 
enraged  him.  Intrepidly  pushing  his  frightened 
horse  closer  up  to  him,  he  raised  his  whip. 

" Lower  that  gun  instantly,  you  scoundrel!" 
he  said.  "Do  you  think  I  am  to  be  threatened? 
If  you  dare  to  assault  me  in  this  way,  I  '11  have 
you  tied  to  a  tree  and  thrashed  within  an  inch 
of  your  life." 

The  absolute  fearlessness  of  the  old  gentle- 
man, and  his  imperious  anger,  overwhelmed  the 
ruffian.  His  eyes  quailed  and  fell,  and,  dropping 
his  gun,  he  stepped  back  out  of  the  way. 

209 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"I  ain'  threatenin'  nobody, "  he  half  growled, 
half  whined.  "I  been  squirrel-hunting  an'  I 
jes'  wanted  to  tell  you  I  did  n'  had  nothin'  to 
do  with  that  there  thing  t'other  night.  I  '11  swar 
on  a  stack  of  Bibles  I  did  n',  and  I  can  prove  it 
by  a  hundred  witnesses.  I  hope  I  may  die  on  the 
spot  if  I  wan'  home  sleep  by  sundown.  I  was 
home  drunk  that  evening,"  he  added  corrobo- 
ratively. 

"I  have  no  doubt  that  you  can  prove  it  by  the 
other  scoundrels  who  were  there,"  said  the  im- 
placable Major,  "who  will  quite  willingly  swear 
to  that  or  any  other  invention  you  may  suggest ; 
but  if  you  expect  to  get  off  by  that,  I  tell  you 
now  that  you  are  mistaken.  There  is  some  law 
left  in  the  land,  I  hope ;  and  unless  you  find  it  so, 
my  name  is  not  Landon." 

So  saying,  he  passed  on,  leaving  the  crest- 
fallen and  subdued  Pokeberry  cursing  him  un- 
der his  breath,  and  looking  dangerously  at  his 
black  gun-barrels. 

He  had  not  gone  over  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
further  and  had  not  quite  reached  the  river, 
when  his  horse  again  started  and  shied  in  the 
narrow  track.  The  Major  angrily  faced  him 
towards  the  point  from  which  he  had  veered, 
thinking,  perhaps,  that  Pokeberry  had  inter- 

210 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

cepted  him.  With  pointed  ears  and  high  head 
the  horse  backed  away.  His  master  looked  earn- 
estly into  the  woods. 

"Walk  out  from  behind  that  tree,  and  come 
here!"  he  suddenly  called  sternly,  to  an  in- 
visible person. 

Finding  himself  discovered,  a  negro  stepped 
out,  and  came  slowly  and  humbly  towards  him. 
He  was  apparently  about  thirty  years  of  age, 
tall  and  strongly  built,  and  very  black. 

"My  marster,"  he  said. 

The  Major  pitched  into  him  with  volubility. 
Dick's  spirits  rose;  for  it  was  Dick  Eunaway 
himself.  He  recognized  in  his  master's  manner 
a  by  no  means  dangerous  mood.  It  was  when 
he  was  stern  and  silent  that  he  was  to  be  feared. 

"What  do  you  run  away  for?"  finally  de- 
manded the  Major.  "I  rescued  you  once  and 
you  swore  solemnly  that  you  'd  never  run  off 
again.  Do  you  think  that  I  have  nothing 
to  do  but  support  a  worthless,  runaway 
vagabond,  who  lives  half  his  time  in  the  woods? 
I  believe  that  you  have  lived  half  your  life  in 
the  woods.  What  did  you  run  away  for  this 
time?" 

The  negro  stood  looking  down  on  the  ground 
in  some  embarrassment.  Suddenly  he  broke  off 

211 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

a  long,  stout  dogwood  switch  from  a  thick  clump 
of  bushes  which  grew  beside  the  path,  and 
stripped  it  of  its  leaves. 

"Here,  marster,  whip  me,"  he  said,  pushing 
it  into  his  hand,  and  pulling  off  his  coat. 

The  Major  gave  him  an  impatient  cut  with 
the  switch,  as  he  might  have  given  his  shying 
horse,  and  flung  it  away. 

"Do  you  suppose  I  want  to  be  soiling  my 
hands  whipping  a  worthless  rascal?  What  I 
want  to  know  is,  what  made  you  run  away  1  You 
are  free  enough  at  home,  Heaven  knows;  lazy 
enough,  anyhow;  it  breaks  me  to  keep  you 
worthless  rascals. " 

He  paused  and  waited,  with  his  eye  on  the 
darkey,  as  if  expecting  a  reply. 

"What  was  it?  sheer  worthlessness ? ' ' 

"Nor,  suh,  't  wa'  n't.  Dat  man  say  he  was 
gwine  meek  you  sell  me, ' '  said  Dick,  doubtfully. 

' '  Make  me  sell  you  f    What  man  1 ' ' 

"Dat  po'  white  man— Mist'  Bailiff."  The 
negro  *s  sovereign  contempt  was  in  his  tone. 

6  i  Don 't  you  let  me  hear  you  speak  of  my  over- 
seer that  way,  sir,"  said  the  Major;  but  he  did 
not  look  offended.  Perhaps  he  was  secretly  a 
little  pleased.  The  negro  recognized  him  as  his 

212 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

natural  and  rightful  chief,  and  looked  on  the 
other  with  unfeigned  disdain. 

"Make  me  sell  you?"  he  repeated.  "Who 
ever  made  me  do  anything!  If  he  could  have 
made  me  sell  you,  I  'd  have  sold  you  long  ago, 
for  you  are  not  worth  keeping.  Come  along 
home  with  me  this  minute."  He  rode  on,  the 
negro  following. 

The  latter  was  walking  behind,  and  could  have 
easily  enough  slipped  off  into  the  woods  and  have 
escaped ;  but  he  did  not  attempt  it.  His  master's 
will  controlled  him,  as  an  officer  controls  a  sol- 
dier in  battle.  Indeed,  as  he  followed  him,  his 
whole  manner  had  changed.  The  look  of  doubt 
and  difficulty  had  disappeared  from  his  face,  and 
he  even  grinned  to  himself  every  now  and  then. 

When  they  had  crossed  the  river  to  their  own 
side,  and  come  in  sight  of  the  fields  through  the 
woods,  the  Major  stopped. 

1 '  You  'd  better  go  back  by  yourself, ' '  he  said ; 
* '  it  will  be  better  for  you.  If  you  come  with  me, 
they  will  think  I  brought  you  back.  Go  that 
way."  He  pointed  through  the  woods  in  a 
direction  at  right  angles  to  the  road  they 
were  in. 

The  negro  hesitated,  and  made  a  gesture  of 
embarrassment. 

213 


ON  NEWFOUND  BIVER 

"Marster — " 

i l  If  the  overseer  says  anything  to  you,  tell  him 
I  told  you  to  say  he  was  to  come  to  see  me." 
The  Major  thought  that  was  his  doubt. 

"Nor,  suh,  't  ain'  dat,"  explained  the  darkey. 
"Dat  feller  Pokeberry, — Pokeberry  Green,  dat 
nigger-hunter— ' '  He  paused. 

"Well,  what  about  him?"  demanded  the 
Major. 

"He  's  a  bad  feller!"  he  said  earnestly. 

"I  thought  he  had  dogs?"  the  Major  said 
dryly,  with  a  quizzical  look  in  his  eyes. 

The  negro  missed  the  point. 

' '  He  got  meanness  in  him ! "  he  said.  ' i  He  got 
he  mine  set  for  you  and  Marse  Bruce,  too ;  and 
for  dem  folks  over  yonder,  too."  He  indicated 
Dr.  Browne's  place,  across  the  river.  "He  got 
meanness  in  him ! ' ' 

"Here,  how  do  you  know  this?"  the  Major 
demanded. 

The  negro  paused. 

"I  heah  him  say  so.    I  been  up  to  he  house." 

"Been  up  to  his  house?" 

"Yes,  suh;  I  crope  up  dyah  t'other  night,  and 
hearn  him  tellin '  another  man  all  about  hit. ' ' 

"I  though  he  had  dogs,"  said  the  Major. 

"Dem  ar  little  houn's!"  said  the  negro,  dis- 
214 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

dainf  ully.  ' '  I  don '  mind  dem  no  mo '  'n  I  does 
mices.  I  done  meek  friends  wid  'em,"  he  said, 
with  a  shrewd  gleam  in  his  eyes. 

The  Major  looked  amused. 

"Well!" 

' '  I  hearn  him  say, ' '  the  negro  proceeded, ' '  dat 
he  was  gwine  long  back  whar  he  come  f  'om ;  dat 
he  was  tired  o'  livin'  down  heah;  he  could  go 
back  dyah  now,  he  said,  'cus  ev'ybody  is  done 
dead  whar  knowed  him.  But  b'fo'  he  go,  he 
said,  he  was  gwine  l  lef  he  mark  behine  him, '  and 
he  name  dem  he  gwine  lef  he  mark  on. ' ' 

The  fellow's  seriousness  testified  his  truth, 
and  the  Major  listened  attentively. 

"He  say  he  gwine  lef  he  mark  on  you,  mars- 
ter,  and  Marse  Bruce,  an'  on  dat  ole  man" 
(again  indicating  the  direction  beyond  the 
stream),  "and  de  young  lady  over  dyah.  He 
said  he  could  ketch  her,  and  sometimes  when  she 
was  out  in  de  woods  he  was  gwine  fine  her;  an' 
Marse  Bruce,  he  said  he  'd  git  him  ef  he  hang 
for  it.  Dat  man  's  got  meanness  in  him!"  he 
said  again. 

1 1  You  heard  him  say  all  this  ! ' '  said  the  Major, 
thoughtfully. 

"Yes,  suh ;  an'  a  heap  mo',  too.  I  been  know 
him  some  time. ' '  He  gave  a  quick  glance  at  his 

215 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

master.  "I  been  know  him  ever  since  dat  time 
he  cotch  me  and  fetch  me  back  tied,  an'  you  'buse 
him  so."  (The  Major  looked  virtuous.)  "He 
never  forgive  you  for  dat,"  proceeded  the 
negro.  "He  meet  me  once,  an'  ax  me 
did  n'  warn'  run  away  for  good.  He  say  whar 
he  come  f 'om  de  niggers  was  all  free,  and  had 
big  house  and  mule  like  white  folks,  and  ef  I  'd 
come  wid  him,  he  could  git  me  dyah;  dat  we 
could  slip  off  some  night,  and  go  like  I  b'longst 
to  him,  tell  we  git  whar  he  live,  or  somewhar  or 
nother. ' ' 

"Ah!    Well,  and— what?" 

"I  tell  him,  Nor,  I  run  away  enough  now.  I 
don'  warn  be  no  free-nigger.  I  know  I  ain' 
gwine  meek  out  I  b'longst  to  him,"  he  said,  with 
contempt;  "not  to  dat  mean,  po'  white  man." 
He  thought  of  the  time  he  had  caught  and  tied 
him,  and  of  the  other  occasion  when  he  had  had 
him  whipped ;  but  did  not  deem  it  worth  while  to 
recall  these  to  his  master.  "An'  it  good  I 
did  n';  cause  dat  night  I  talkin'  'bout,  I  heah 
him  tellm'  dat  turr  man  I  ain'  know,  'bout  how 
he  had  try  to  git  me  to  go  off  wid  him,  an '  ef  he 
had,  he  wuz  gwine  teck  me  down  to  South  Cyar- 
liny  an'  sell  me.  He  say  he  done  sole  two  or 
three  down  dyah  in  he  time,  an'  he  laughed  and 

216 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

tried  to  git  de  urr  man  to  go  in  wid  him.  Dat 
man  got  meanness  in  him ! ' ' 

The  Major  was  thoroughly  attentive. 

"Was  that  all  you  heard  him  say!" 

"Yes,  suh,  den,"  said  the  negro.  "I  got 
skeered  de  dogs  mought  git  to  barkin',  an'  meek 
him  let  he  gun  off  an'  put  he  mark  on  me,  an'  I 
slipped  off.  He  over  yonder  in  de  woods  now." 
He  nodded  over  towards  the  other  side  of  the 
stream.  "I  don't  know  ef  he  arter  Marse  Bruce 
or  dat  young  lady. ' ' 

"Go  home,"  said  the  master,  "and  don't  say 
anything  of  this  to  any  one." 

"Yes,  suh." 

He  went  off,  and  the  Major  rode  on. 

On  the  way  through  the  fields  he  met  his  over- 
seer, who,  unfortunately  for  him,  recurred  to 
the  conversation  of  the  morning.  The  Major 
broke  out  on  him: 

"Sell  one  of  my  negroes?  No,  sir!  I  'd  as 
soon  think  of  selling  you.  I  don 't  care  how  often 
the  fellow  runs  away.  He  must  have  had  some 
cause  I  don't  know  about.  I  'd  have  run  away, 
too." 

This  was  a  deadly  thrust  at  the  overseer,  who 
looked  dumbfounded,  and  with  much  humility 

217 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

said  something  about  the  Major's  speech  this 
morning. 

"Well,  sir,  I  never  had  the  least  intention  of 
it, ' '  he  said  truly.  ' i  I  thought  you  knew  me  well 
enough  by  this  time  to  be  able  to  tell  when  I 
mean  a  thing  and  when  I  do  not. ' ' 

He  rode  on  to  the  house.  As  he  entered  the 
hall  his  eyes  fell  on  the  portrait  of  his  grand- 
mother as  a  bride,  which  hung  on  the  wall. 

"By  Jove!  how  like  her  she  is!"  he  said. 
' l  She  looks  as  proud  as  she  was,  and  she  was  the 
proudest  woman  on  earth." 

At  that  moment  Margaret  Eeid,  her  pride  for- 
got, was  seated  on  the  low  porch  with  her  head 
on  her  arm,  where  she  had  flung  herself  more 
than  an  hour  before.  The  basket  of  wild  flowers 
she  had  gathered  was  overturned  on  the  floor 
beside  her,  and  the  flowers  lay  wilting  in  the  sun. 


218 


XVII 

WHEN  the  Major  arrived  at  home,  the  first 
thing  he  did  was  to  consult  his  wife.  This 
he  always  did  whatever  the  matter  might  be, 
though  he  did  not  invariably  follow  her  advice, 
—an  independence  he  atoned  for  by  being  al- 
ways ready  to  admit  its  folly. 

As  he  came  out  the  audience  chamber,  his 
wife  called  after  him: 

"Let  Dick  drive  them  over." 

The  Major  gave  her  a  look  of  admiration  as 
he  passed  out  of  the  door. 

A  half-hour  later  Dick  Eunaway  was  driving 
out  of  the  gate  of  the  river  pasture  the  two  finest 
milch  cows  in  the  Major's  herd.  The  Major 
rode  down,  and  joining  him,  accompanied  him 
to  the  other  side  of  the  river  to  see  the  cows 
safely  across.  As  he  turned  back  he  called  to 
the  negro : 

"Be  sure  to  remember,  you  are  not  to  mention 
who  sent  them." 

219 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

This  Dick  faithfully  engaged  not  to  do ;  and 
the  Major  rode  slowly  home  as  he  saw  him  start 
the  cows  up  the  hill,  along  the  old  road  through 
the  pines. 

Just  as  he  emerged  from  the  woods  he  was 
met  by  Bailiff,  his  overseer,  in  a  state  of  great 
excitement.  A  negro  had  found  him  on  some 
other  portion  of  the  plantation,  and  told  him 
that  a  man  had  been  seen  down  in  the  river 
pasture  actually  driving  two  of  the  Major's 
cattle  out  of  the  field.  He  was  thought  to  be 
Dick  Runaway.  He  was  following  on  their 
tracks  in  hot  haste. 

"You  'd  better  sell  that  nigger,  sir,"  he  said 
earnestly.  "He  's  ruinin'  every  one  on  this 
place. ' ' 

The  Major  looked  quite  sheepish.  He  told  the 
overseer  with  much  embarrassment  that  he  had 
himself  directed  Dick  to  drive  the  cows  over  to 
a  neighbor's;  that  Mrs.  Landon  had  heard  his 
family  was  very  poor,  and  wished  to  relieve 
them. 

It  was  this  same  day,  towards  the  afternoon. 
Old  Dr.  Browne  was  sitting  alone  in  his  room. 
He  had  made  Margaret  get  him  pen,  ink,  and 
paper,  and  then  had  sent  her  out  to  walk.  She 
had  found  her  mammy  getting  ready  to  go  after 

220 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

the  cows ;  and  as  the  old  woman  was  ailing  with 
rheumatism,  which  she  called  "a  misery  in  her 
back,"  had  told  her  she  would  go  in  her  place, 
and  with  an  injunction  to  her  to  look  after  her 
grandfather,  had  gone  off  through  the  pines 
down  towards  the  pond  where  the  cows  usually 
roamed,  sustaining  themselves  on  the  coarse 
pond-grass. 

She  had  not  been  gone  long  when  the  old 
woman  coming  to  her  door  on  the  way  to  the 
house  to  fulfil  Margaret's  injunction,  saw  two 
cows  being  let  into  the  yard  at  the  old  gate  by 
a  negro  man. 

With  an  exclamation  of  astonishment  at  the 
strange' sight,  she  hastened  to  meet  the  man  at  as 
rapid  a  pace  as  her  lameness  permitted. 

"  Whose  cows  is  dem  you  got  dyahl  and  what 
you  drivin'  em  thoo  heah  for?  Don't  you  know 
marster  don't  'low  folks  to  be  drivin'  stock  thoo 
dis  place  f ' ' 

She  spoke  with  some  asperity  in  her  voice.  It 
was  a  little  tempered  by  the  sight  of  the  sleek 
coats  and  large,  milky  bags  of  the  cows,  at  which 
she  looked  with  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur. 

"Good  evenin',"  said  the  man,  who  was  Dick 
Eunaway.  "Dey  's  Dr.  Browne's  cows." 

"Dem  ain'  we  cows,"  said  the  old  woman. 
221 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"We  ain't  got  but  two  cows,  an'  dee  's  po'er  'n 
dem." 

"I  cyarn  help  it,"  said  Dick;  "dese  is  de 
doctor 's. ' ' 

"Don't  I  know  my  own  cows?  Often  as  I 
been  milked  Teensey  and  Princess ! ' '  She  looked 
scornfully  at  him. 

"  Tears  like  you  don't,"  said  he,  with  an  air 
of  mystery  about  him;  "  'cuz  I  tell  you  dese  is 
Dr.  Browne's  cows." 

"Whar  he  git  'em,  den?"  she  asked,  resting 
her  doubled  fists  on  her  hips. 

This  was  a  question  Dick  was  unprepared  for. 
He  remembered  the  Major's  injunction  that  he 
was  on  no  account  to  say  a  word  as  to  who  sent 
them. 

"Whar  he  git  'em?"  he  asked  vacantly,  to 
gain  time  whilst  he  hunted  around  for  a  plau- 
sible lie.  "Whar  he  git  'em?  What  you  got 
to  do  wid  whar  he  git  'em  ?  I  tell  you  he  got  'em. 
Ain'  dat  'nough  for  you  to  know?  You  better 
go  'long  an'  git  bucket  to  milk  'em,  cause  milk 
running  out  de  bags  right  now.  You  ain '  never 
see  no  sich  cows  as  dese  bef o ' ! "  He  could  not 
help  indulging  in  a  little  bragging,  and  was  con- 
gratulating himself  on  his  reply. 

"I  believe  you  'se  done  stolt  dem  cows,  and 
222 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

jes'  tryin'  to  lef  'em  heah  to  git  youself  out 
o'  trouble,  an'  git  we  in,"  said  the  old  lady,  sus- 
piciously. 

This  completely  disarranged  Dick's  plans  and 
disposed  of  his  complacency.  He  vowed,  with 
many  asseverations,  that  he  had  not  only  come 
by  the  cattle  honestly,  but  had  been  instructed 
by  his  master  to  bring  them  as  a  present  to  Dr. 
Browne;  and  he  was  led  into  such  a  glowing 
description  of  his  master's  wealth  and  grandeur, 
that  before  he  was  half  through,  the  old  woman 
had  learned  fully  all  the  facts  in  the  case. 

She  asked  if  he  had  brought  a  note.  Dick, 
thoroughly  humbled,  said  he  had  not.  So  with 
a  sniff  at  him  and  his  master  she  accepted  the 
cows  without  the  note,  and  made  Dick  drive  them 
down  to  the  * '  back  yard. ' ' 

There  she  dismissed  him,  with  a  message  of 
thanks,  couched  in  such  language  and  accom- 
panied by  an  air  of  so  much  condescension,  that 
Dick  left  with  a  mystified  feeling,  partly  aston- 
ishment, and  partly  awe. 

"Dat  ain'  no  po'  white  folks'  nigger,"  he 
said  to  himself  again  and  again,  as  he  went 
home.  "She  talk  jes'  as  assumptious  as  ef  she 
b'longst  to  marster." 

When  the  old  woman  had  seen  Dick  well  out 
223 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

of  sight  her  whole  manner  changed.  In  place  of 
the  indifference  she  had  displayed  before  him, 
delight  beamed  from  her  wrinkled  black  face, 
and  importance  showed  in  every  movement  she 
made. 

After  she  had  first  secured  and  made  friends 
with  the  two  cows,  and  milked  them  a  little  to 
satisfy  herself,  she  went  into  the  house  to  ac- 
quaint her  master  with  the  important  news.  Her 
eager  manner,  however,  was  put  off,  like  a  gar- 
ment, at  his  door,  and  when  she  entered  his 
chamber  she  was  as  quiet,  and  apparently  as 
calm,  as  usual. 

The  old  gentleman  was  lying  back  in  his  chair, 
with  his  eyes  closed.  His  pen  was  in  his  hand 
and  his  paper  was  on  his  knee.  She  thought  he 
was  asleep,  and  was  retiring,  when  he  spoke  her 
name. 

"  Clarissa  I" 

"Sir?" 

"Come  here." 

She  obeyed,  and  stood  silent  near  his  chair. 

"Where  is  your  mistress?"  he  asked. 

' '  She  gone  arter  de  cows.  She  would  go,  suh ; 
I  could  n'  hender  her." 

He  closed  his  eyes  again  and  kept  them  shut. 
She  remained  motionless. 

224 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

"That  young  man, — ah— young  Mr.  Landon, 
over  the  other  side  of  the  river,— ah— you  have 
seen  him  over  on  this  side?" 

"Yes,  suh." 

"Ah!  How  often?9'  He  put  the  questions 
very  slowly,  and  as  if  they  fell  between  his 
thoughts. 

"I  ain'  never  seen  him  but  once,  suh,  not  to 
speak  to,"  she  said;  "but  he  comes  over  heah 
right  constant.  He  'pears  to  be  mighty  fon' 
o'  fishing  over  heah,  though  I  don'  think  he 
ketches  much." 

"What  sort  of  a  young  man— ah— what  does 
he  seem  to  be  doing  when  he  is  n't  catching 
fish?" 

"He  'pears  to  me,  marster,  to  be  kind  o' 
trompin'  up  an'  down.  He  ain'  arter  fish, 
marster;  he  's  arter  my  mistis,  my  lamb,"  she 
broke  out  suddenly. 

Her  master  made  no  reply,  but  he  opened  his 
eyes  and  looked  at  her  without  moving.  Her 
tongue  being  loosed,  she  went  on  to  tell  him  all 
she  knew  of  Bruce,  who  she  declared  appeared 
to  her  to  be  "  a  mighty  nice  disposed  gent 'man. " 
She  instanced  his  going  to  drive  the  cows  back 
the  day  they  went  across  the  river. 

"I  know— I  know,"  said  her  master,  when 
225 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

she  paused  after  her  account.  "I  am  getting 
very  old  and  feeble,  I  think  I  shall  write  a  will. 
I  had  not  intended  to  do  so,  but  I  think  now  I 
shall.  I  wish  you  to  know  where  it  is  if  any- 
thing should  happen." 

"Yes,  suh." 

Then  she  proceeded  to  tell  of  the  present  of 
the  two  cows,  which  she  attributed  to  Bruce. 

This  piece  of  news  had  a  very  different  effect 
on  the  old  gentleman  from  that  which  she  ex- 
pected. It  threw  him  into  a  violent  passion.  He 
declared  that  he  would  not  submit  to  such  in- 
solence, and  directed  that  the  cows  should  be 
forthwith  driven  home.  He  would  write  a  note. 
No;  no  note  had  been  sent  with  them;  none 
should  go  back  with  them,  but  a  message  to 
Major  Landon  to  say  that  he  had  cows  of  his 
own,  and  "wanted  neither  his  cows  nor  his 
damned  patronizing  interference." 

Old  Clarissa  was  aghast.  She  could  not  un- 
derstand her  master's  wrath  over  what  she  con- 
sidered a  sort  of  miraculous  generosity  which 
had  come  just  in  the  nick  of  time;  but  she  felt 
that  her  master  must  have  some  good  reason  for 
his  position  and  she  bowed  before  it. 

The  cows  accordingly  reappeared  that  even- 
ing at  the  Landon  Hall  barn,  with  a  message 

226 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

which  had  lost  none  of  its  vigor  by  transmission 
through  either  old  Folium  or  the  overseer  to 
whom  he  delivered  it.  To  be  repulsed  in  the 
moment  when  we  are  flattering  our  souls  that 
we  have  been  generous  is  hard  to  forgive.  In 
fact,  the  Major  felt  that  he  had  taken  a  liberty 
with  his  strange  neighbor,  and  he  recognized 
that  he  had  gotten  soundly  snubbed  for  it.  After 
receiving  the  message  the  Major  burnt  at  white 
heat;  even  Mrs.  Landon's  soothing  influence 
having  no  effect  on  him. 

When,  after  having  started  the  cows  home  in 
her  husband's  charge,  the  old  woman  returned 
to  her  master,  as  he  instructed  her  to  do,  he  was 
just  folding  up  the  paper  which  he  had  written. 
He  made  her  light  a  candle  and  bring  a  piece  of 
sealing-wax,  and  with  it  he  sealed  the  document 
carefully,  using  a  large  seal  containing  a  crest, 
which  he  had  on  his  watch  chain.  Then  he  en- 
dorsed it  with  the  words : 

"Statement  and  Will  of  him  known  as  Thomas 
Browne,  M.  D.,  of  Landon  Hill.  Written  wholly  with 
his  own  Hand.  To  be  opened  only  after  his  Death. ' ' 

This  paper  he  gave  to  the  old  woman  and 
directed  her  where  to  place  it  in  a  drawer  in  an 

227 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

old  desk  in  the  corner,  explaining  to  Her  with 
great  care  what  it  was,  and  impressing  on  her 
its  importance  in  event  of  his  death  at  any  time. 
She  promised,  with  an  earnestness  which  satis- 
fied him,  that  it  should  be  preserved  and  pro- 
duced, and  with  a  wave  of  his  hand  he  dismissed 
her. 

As  she  disappeared,  he  sank  back  on  his  pil- 
low, and  his  eyes  closed. 

"It  was  her  due,"  he  said  to  himself  wearily. 
"I  had  not  intended  it;  but  it  was  her  due.  I 
have  sacrificed  everything,  even  her,  to  what  I 
deemed  my  expiation,  and,  perhaps,  after  all  it 
was  but  my  pride.  It  has  been  my  curse  all  my 
life.  I  will  not  sacrifice  her  further.  It  shall 
not  pursue  her  after  my  death.  I  will  make  the 
amend  to  her.  I  will  humble  them.  *  Humble 
them ! '  "he  repeated.  i '  There  it  is  again !  God 
forgive  me !  it  comes  up  even  in  my  best  action. 
It  has  ruined  my  life !  blasted  all  it  has  touched ! 
made  me  an  outcast !  left  her  a  beggar ! ' ' 

He  leaned  back  with  an  expression  of  unutter- 
able weariness  on  his  gray  face.  In  his  eyes 
was  something  of  the  look  of  an  imprisoned 
eagle. 


228 


XVIII 

MAEGAEET  was  looking  for  the  cows 
down  in  the  old  pine-grown  field  on  the 
river.  She  had  wanted  the  walk;  wanted  any- 
thing that  would  take  her  out  of  herself.  Her 
face,  her  every  motion  showed  that  she  was 
undergoing  a  struggle.  As  she  passed  along 
the  paths  now  in  shade,  now  in  sunshine,  her 
form  straight,  her  step  swift  and  easy,  her  brow 
now  puckered,  now  clearing,  her  supple  limbs 
just  outlined  by  her  summer  dress,  she  might 
have  been  a  young  Diana  pondering  her  re- 
venge for  some  too  bold  hunter  who  had  in- 
vaded her  domain. 

The  time  that  had  passed  since  her  interview 
with  Major  Landon  had  been  new  to  her ;  her  life 
had  been  different.  Why  had  he  come  to  see 
her?  Did  Bruce  Landon  love  her?  He  had 
never  himself  intimated  it.  And  had  she  not 
promised  that  she  would  not  marry  him?  Given 
her  word,  which  shut  him  out  from  her  forever ! 
Would  she— could  she  marry  him  against  the 
will  of  that  hard,  cruel  father  of  his,  with  his 

229 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

thin,  proud  face  and  his  cold  words  1  How  dared 
he  to  speak  so  to  her !  How  dared  he  come  to  her 
at  all !  It  was  an  insult.  She,  poor  as  she  was, 
would  humble  his  pride.  Her  grandfather  was 
better  than  he.  Had  not  her  mammy  told  her  of 
his  heroism  when  the  whole  country  was  stricken 
with  fever  and  when  even  the  closest  ties  of 
blood  were  relaxed;  when  the  people  looked  to 
him  almost  as  to  a  saviour !  It  was  he  who  had 
buried  the  dead,  cared  for  the  suffering  and  in- 
spired courage  in  the  living.  He  had  been  like 
a  guardian  angel  to  a  whole  city.  And  how 
dared  that  man  come  to  her  as  he  had  done !  She 
would  show  him  that  she,  too,  was  proud.  And 
even  as  she  walked  along  the  well-known  paths 
through  the  pines,  she  at  the  thought  held  her 
head  more  erect  and  stepped  with  a  more  of- 
fended mien.  But  there  it  came  again :  the  pic- 
ture of  the  handsome,  calm,  white  face  upturned, 
with  the  eyes  closed  and  the  lashes  on  his  cheek, 
just  as  he  had  lain  on  the  floor  at  her  feet  that 
evening  when  she  thought  he  was  dead,  mur- 
dered by  that  ruffian.  Why  could  she  not  forget 
it?  Why  had  her  heart  stopped  beating,  and 
then  leaped  into  her  throat?  She  had  thought 
of  him  as  he  lay  that  afternoon  so  long  ago, 
asleep  on  his  arm  under  the  great  poplar  with 

230 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

the  sunbeams  on  his  beautiful,  upturned  face,  as 
she  had  kissed  him  for  the  fairy  prince  to  bring 
him  to  life.  Why  had  she  longed  so  to  throw 
herself  beside  him  as  he  lay  that  night  on  the 
floor,  and  die  with  him?  Why  had  she  thought 
of  him  all  these  years  ?  Why  had  she  ever  seen 
him?  Was  he  not  infinitely  beyond  her?  Be- 
sides, had  she  not  promised  not  to  marry  him, 
never  to  marry  him? 

She  clenched  her  slender  hands  as  she  walked 
along,  and  pressed  the  nails  into  her  pink  palms 
till  they  hurt. 

She  could  see  or  hear  nothing  of  the  cows 
along  the  branch  where  they  could  usually  be 
found,  so  she  went  on  towards  the  river,  think- 
ing they  might  be  there.  She  had  walked  that 
path  a  thousand  times,  yet  she  now  thought  only 
of  the  occasions  when  she  had  met  Bruce  Lan- 
don.  She  would  never  see  him  again;  for  his 
cruel,  hard  father  would  tell  him  what  she  had 
said.  He  would  be  angry  with  her  for  refusing 
to  marry  him  when  he  had  never  even  said  a 
word  to  her.  She  pictured  to  herself  his  indig- 
nation when  his  father  should  inform  him  of  her 
promise.  What  right  had  she  to  assume  that  he 
wanted  to  marry  her?  She  did  not  know  even 
that  he  loved  her.  He  would  go  away  and  stay 

231 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVEE 

another  eight  years ;  he  would  never  come  back. 
She  would  not  marry  him  if  he  did. 

She  stopped  to  listen,  trying  to  think  it  was 
for  the  cow-bells;  but  the  sorrowful  notes  of  a 
dove's  ' l Coo-coo-oo,  Coo-oo-oo"  on  some  dead 
limb  deep  in  the  pines  were  the  only  sound  she 
heard,  and  they  made  the  silence  and  loneliness 
more  oppressive. 

She  turned  and  went  towards  the  big  spring 
at  the  foot  of  the  great  poplar. 

Was  it  to  find  the  cows  I 

She  had  almost  reached  the  spring,  when,  at 
a  turn  in  the  path,  she  came  face  to  face  with  a 
man. 

Her  heart  leaped  into  her  throat  with  fear; 
for  she  recognized  at  once  the  burly  figure,  the 
coarse,  bloated  face  crossed  by  the  deep  red 
mark  which  had  given  his  name  to  Pokeberry 
Green.  He  had  in  his  hand  his  gun.  He  broke 
into  a  coarse  laugh  as  he  observed  the  start  she 
gave. 

6 1  So  you  were  lookin '  f  er  me,  my  pretty  lady, ' ' 
he  said  with  a  leer,  resting  his  gun  on  the 
ground,  and  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  nar- 
row path.  "  I  'm  havin '  luck  to-day. ' ' 

"Good  evening;  I  was  looking  for  my  cows," 
said  Margaret  in  as  calm  a  voice  as  she  could 

232 


ON  NEWFOUND  SlVER 

command,  moving  out  of  the  path  to  let  him 
pass. 

"Lookin'  fer  the  cows;  en'  warn'  you  lookin' 
fer  nothin'  else!  Well,  now,  maybe  I  11  help 
you  look  fer  'em.  Pleasant  to  find  comp  'ny  in  a 
lonesome  place  onexpected,  am'  it?  Kind  o' 
lonesome  place  down  here  on  the  river?"  The 
fellow  laughed  amusedly  at  the  girl's  frightened, 
look. 

"Let  me  pass,  please,"  she  said  coldly,  mov- 
ing to  go  by  him. 

"Oh,  don'  be  in  sich  a  hurry,"  he  drawled. 
"We  ain'  met  in  a  long  time,— not  to  talk, 
though  I  've  seen  you  often.  I  wuz  lookin'  fer 
somebody,  something  else  besides  you,  an'  not 
ixpectin'  to  fine  sich  pretty  game,  sich  a  pretty 
little  duck,  and  I  cain '  bear  to  give  you  up.  Don ' 
frown  that  way ;  't  ain '  becomin '  to  sich  a  pretty 
face.  Cain'  you  smile  a  little  on  Poke?" 

"Let  me  by,  sir;  don't  you  dare  to  speak  to 
me!"  said  Margaret,  raising  her  head  defiantly 
and  looking  at  the  ruffian  with  flashing  eyes. 

He  was  somewhat  abashed,  and  changed  his 
drawling  tone ;  but  as  she  moved,  he  seized  her 
by  the  wrist. 

"You  vixen!"  he  growled;  "I  've  got  you 
now ;  I  have  been  waiting  fer  you. ' ' 

233 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

Margaret  was  naturally  wiry,  and  fear  and 
anger  together  gave  her  unwonted  strength. 
With  a  cry  of  anguish  and  fright,  she  wrenched 
her  arm  from  his  grasp,  lacerating  the  wrist,  and 
springing  forward  fled  likfc  a  frightened  deer 
down  the  path. 

"Ah!  That  's  your  game!"  laughed  the  ruf- 
fian, running  after  her.  ' '  You  are  worth  catch- 
ing. Stop,  or  I  '11  shoot. " 

Margaret  fled  the  faster. 

He  was  overtaking  her  when  he  suddenly 
stopped,  and  turned  his  head,  and  listened ;  for 
a  shout  was  heard  down  the  path  a  short  dis- 
tance ahead,  and  the  sound  of  a  man's  footsteps 
rushing  towards  them.  Pokeberry  sprang  into 
the  bushes  and  dashed  away,  just  as  Margaret 
rushed  into  the  arms  of  Bruce  Landon. 

"Oh,  Bruce,  Bruce!"  she  cried. 

The  next  instant  she  was  weeping  hysteric- 
ally, and  his  strong  arms  were  supporting  her. 

When  the  delirium  had  passed,  Margaret 
found  herself  sitting  on  the  great  rock  by  the 
spring.  Bruce  was  beside  her,  and  his  arm  was 
around  her.  Then  she  remembered.  She  re- 
membered how  she  had  clung  to  him;  how  she 
had  loved  him ;  how  safe  she  had  felt  in  his  arms, 
as  if  he  alone  could  shield  and  save  her;  how  he 

234 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

had  soothed  her,  calmed  her,  comforted  her; 
how  furious  he  had  been  with  the  ruffian  who 
had  insulted  her;  and  how  he  would  have  fol- 
lowed him  and  caught  him,  and,  she  believed, 
have  killed  him,  but  for  her  clinging  to  him,  and 
telling  him  that  she  would  die  if  he  left  her 
there ;  then  how  he  had  kissed  her  and  told  her 
of  his  love ;  and  how,  with  her  face  against  his, 
she  had  told  him  that  she  loved  him;  and  how 
she  could  willingly  have  died  there  in  his  arms. 
All  this  she  now,  for  the  first  time,  remembered. 
Her  head  was  on  his  shoulder,  and  his  arm 
was  around  her,  and  she  rested  with  a  sense  of 
such  perfect  security  and  happiness  that  when 
the  recollection  of  the  promise  to  his  father 
came  suddenly  to  her  it  smote  her  like  the  shock 
of  death.  She  could  not  act.  She  could  not  give 
him  up.  Stronger  and  stronger,  however,  came 
the  recollection  of  her  position  and  of  the  humil- 
iation which  Major  Landon  had  placed  on  her, 
—on  her  and  on  her  grandfather.  She  thought 
of  the  old  gentleman  sitting  lonely  in  his  arm- 
chair in  the  bare  room  at  home.  She  thought  of 
his  patience,  of  his  kindness,  and  of  his  pride. 
What  a  blow  it  would  be  to  him  to  know  it !  She 
opened  her  eyes  and  gazed  straight  before  her 
for  a  moment,  thinking  it  all  over. 

235 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Suddenly  she  sprang  up  with  a  movement 
so  unexpected  that  Bruce  started,  and  gazed 
about  him,  supposing  some  one  was  approach- 
ing. 

Margaret  looked  at  him,  her  lips  half  formed 
for  speech.  An  expression  of  deep  anxiety  had 
taken  the  place  of  the  look  of  perfect  content 
which  had  made  her  face  so  sweet. 

"Well,  what  is  it?"  Bruce  reached  out  his 
hand  to  her,  with  a  smile,  and  then  rose  to  take 
her  again  in  his  arms. 

"No;  I  cannot.  I  have  been  wrong.  I  can- 
not marry  you,  ever,  and  I  have  no  right  to 
love  you;  it  is  impossible.  No."  She  backed 
away  with  a  gesture  of  refusal,  as  Bruce  caught 
her,  and  with  the  smile  still  on  his  lips,  attempted 
to  draw  her  to  him  and  put  his  arm  around  her. 
Her  face  was  perfectly  grave,  and  the  happiness 
was  dying  slowly  from  it  as  the  light  fades 
from  an  evening  sky. 

"What  are  you  talking  about!"  he  asked. 

"Oh!  I  cannot.  No,"  (as  he  tried  to  draw 
her  to  him),  "no.  Oh,  why  did  I  ever  see  you? 
Why  did  you  ever  come  here?"  She  looked  at 
him  piteously,  as  if  she  asked  the  question  to  re- 
ceive an  answer.  "Why  did  you  ever  come 
here?"  she  repeated. 

236 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

"I  came  because  I  loved  you ;  because  you  are 
my  soul;  because  God  drove  me  here.  I  would 
have  found  you  in  a  desert  had  you  been  there, ' ' 
declared  Bruce,  vehemently,  catching  her,  and 
drawing  her  firmly  up  to  him.  She  put  up  her 
hands,  and  placing  them  on  his  shoulders,  held 
him  at  arm's  length. 

"  No ;  you  must  not.  I  cannot ;  indeed  I  can- 
not. I  was  wild,  insane ;  it  is  impossible.  I  can- 
not love  you."  She  kept  him  from  her  by  an 
effort  of  strength. 

"But  you  do  love  me;  you  said  you  did." 

' l  No ;  I  was  wrong.    You  cannot  love  me. ' ' 

"But  I  can,  and  I  do,— better  than  earth,  bet- 
ter than  heaven, ' '  declared  Bruce,  catching  and 
holding  her  by  her  arms. 

4 '  No ;  you  have  no  right  to  do  it.  I  am  nothing 
but  an  unknown,  poor  girl.  I  know  nothing; 
I  have  seen  nothing.  You  are  Bruce  Landon. 
Your  father—" 

He  would  have  interrupted  her,  but  she  would 
not  permit  him. 

1 1  —hates  me.    Your  mother— ' ' 

' '  My  mother  is  an  angel, ' '  declared  the  young 
man,  rejoiced  to  find  one  point  he  could  combat. 

Her  eyes  softened,  and  she  wavered. 

"Is  she!    What  is  she  like?" 
237 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Bruce  seized  the  opportunity. 

"She  is  an  angel,"  he  repeated  earnestly. 
"She  is  as  beautiful  in  character  and  mind  as 
she  is  in  person,  and  she  is  the  most  beautiful 
woman  in  the  world.  One  of  the  two  most  beau- 
tiful," he  added,  his  admiration  showing  in  his 
eyes.  "My  mother  would  adore  you,  and  you 
her,"  he  said. 

She  sighed.  But  the  thought  of  her  grand- 
father came  back  to  her ;  of  him  sitting  alone  in 
his  room.  Then  the  thought  of  Major  Landon 
came,  as  he  had  sat  on  his  handsome  horse,  look- 
ing over  her  head,  and  asking  her  to  "take  a 
message  to  the  young  woman  there,  Dr. 
Browne's  grand-daughter— Miss  Browne,  or 
whatever  her  name  was. ' '  A  hot  wave  of  shame 
swept  over  her.  It  was  an  insult. 

With  an  effort  she  suddenly  released  herself 
from  Bruce 's  grasp. 

"It  is  impossible,"  she  said  in  a  changed 
voice.  i '  I  can  never  marry  you. ' ' 

"But  I  don't  understand!"  broke  in  Bruce. 
"You  have  told  me  that  you  love  me." 

"  No ;  I  was  wrong ;  I  do  not.  I  cannot.  Your 
father— I  will  not  marry  you." 

"My  father  has  nothing  to  do  with  me,"  de- 
clared Bruce.  "I  love  you.  I  have  loved  you 

238 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

all  my  life— ever  since  you  were  a  little  girl, 
and  I  waked  and  found  you  at  my  side."  He 
caught  her  hand  and  held  it  fast. 

"You  should  obey  your  father,"  she  said. 

"I  will  not  obey  him— not  where  you  are  con- 
cerned. I  would  not  weigh  the  world  against 
you."  His  passion  drove  her  from  her  posi- 
tion. 

' '  You  have  never  been  to  see  my  grandfather. 
I  will  never  marry— I  will  never  love  any  one 
without  his  approval— his  full  approval,"  she 
said,  faltering,  her  resolution  waning. 

' '  But  I  will  get  it, ' '  he  said  eagerly.  '  <  I  asked 
you  to  let  me  go  and  see  him,  and  you  would 
not ;  you  remember  I ' ' 

"Yes;  but  you  should  have  gone,  anyhow," 
she  said  weakly,  driven  from  her  position. 

'  *  I  will  go  now.    Come. ' ' 

He  started  to  turn,  drawing  her  with  him. 
His  face  was  eager  with  determination. 

"  No ;  you  are  so  hasty, ' '  she  said,  weakening 
before  his  decision. 

"Ah!  you  are  just  teasing  me!"  exclaimed 
Bruce.  He  caught  her,  and,  breaking  down  the 
barrier  of  her  arms,  kissed  her  almost  violently. 

She  remained  quiet  in  his  arms  a  moment, 
and  then  tried  to  free  herself  again. 

239 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

"You  must  listen.  You  must  not  kiss  me.  I 
will  not  love  you." 

"I  will  kiss  you.  I  will  not  listen.  You  shall 
love  me ! 7 7  He  kissed  her  again. 

"I  am  not  teasing1  you,77  she  said  gravely,  as 
he  smiled  down  into  her  eyes.  "You  must  go 
away,  and  not  come  here  any  more.77 

"I  will  not  go  away.  I  tell  you  now,  I  will 
not,77  said  Bruce.  "You  have  given  yourself 
to  me ;  you  have  opened  the  gates  of  heaven  to 
me,  and  you  shall  not  shut  them ;  no  one  shall. 7  7 
He  kissed  her  again.  "You  love  me,  don't  you? 
Tell  me.77  His  eyes  were  searching  hers. 

"Yes;  I  do.77    Her  eyes  met  his  bravely. 

1  i  Then  you  will  marry  me  1 7  7 

"No;  I  cannot.  I  will  not.  I  have  prom- 
ised—77 She  stopped. 

"Promised  whom!77  A  sudden  pang  of  jeal- 
ousy shot  through  him. 

"I  cannot  tell.77 

"You  shall;  you  must.77  He  seized  her,  and 
looked  into  her  eyes.  '  '  You  must  tell  me. 7  7 

She  was  unable  to  resist  him.  His  face  was 
so  close  to  hers,  his  eager  gaze  fascinated  her. 
His  will  dominated  her  will.  She  felt  that  his 
word  was  a  command  which  she  could  not  dis- 
obey. 

240 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"Tell  me,"  he  repeated  quietly;  "whom  have 
you  promised!" 

"Your  father."  She  looked  him  in  the  eyes, 
and  spoke  the  words  in  a  low  voice,  almost 
timidly. 

"My  father!    When  did  you  see  him1?" 

"Yesterday;  he  came  yesterday,  and  I  prom- 
ised him."  She  looked  at  him  humbly,  almost 
fearfully. 

"Well;  you  shall  unpromise  him.  He  shall 
release  you, ' 9  he  said,  after  a  pause,  quietly,  but 
with  absolute  confidence  as  he  released  her  hand 
and  straightening  himself  stood  before  her,  his 
face  calm  and  touched  with  a  new  loftiness ;  and, 
for  the  first  time,  she  looked  down.  And  she 
let  him  put  his  arm  around  her,  and  draw  her  to 
him ;  and  quietly  laid  her  head  on  his  shoulder. 
She  felt  that  he  had  taken  charge  of  the  matter, 
and  lifted  the  responsibility  from  her.  She  felt 
that  he  had  taken  her  life  into  his  charge  and 
protection.  And  once  more  the  sound  of  a  dove 
cooing  for  its  mate  came  from  deep  down  in 
the  woods,  a  note  of  Peace. 


241 


XIX 

WHEN  Bruce  left  her  in  the  summer  even- 
ing light  he  had  obtained  from  her  a 
promise  that  she  would  meet  him  at  the  spring 
the  following  evening  at  sunset.  His  father  was 
absent  from  home,  but  was  to  return  in  the 
morning,  when  he  would  extort  from  him  a  full 
release,  and  absolute  permission  for  him  to 
claim  the  fulfilment  of  her  promise.  He  knew 
there  would  be  a  struggle  and  possibly  a  serious 
breach;  but  he  was  prepared  to  face  all  conse- 
quences and  he  had  no  doubt  that  he  would  se- 
cure what  he  demanded,  and  she  had  suddenly 
learned  to  take  her  views  from  him.  She  won- 
dered how  she  could  ever  have  doubted  him.  He 
had  won  her.  She  imposed  these  two  condi- 
tions, that  he  should  bring  his  father's  release 
from  her  pledge,  and  win  her  grandfather's 
consent.  He  walked  with  her  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  and  then  bade  her  good-by.  He 
went  over,  word  by  word,  all  he  had  told  her  of 
his  love.  He  would  die  for  her. 
When  he  left  her,  the  last  glimpse  she  had  of 
242 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

him  was  as  he  turned  again  to  kiss  his  hand  to 
her:  a  radiant  picture  of  a  gallant  young  lover 
for  whom  the  world  held  only  one  thing:  his 
love. 

"I  love  you,"  she  heard  him  call.  He  was 
clearly  outlined  against  a  bit  of  blue  evening 
sky  in  a  break  of  the  trees,  tall  and  straight,  and 
as  she  looked  back  at  him  she  felt  that  he  was 
her  master.  The  walk  home  was  full  of  joy  for 
him  the  earth  was  no  longer  the  same  he  had 
known  that  morning.  He  trod  on  air.  Heaven 
was  about  him.  Even  the  thought  of  his  father  's 
disappointment  and  disapproval  could  not  damp 
his  ardour.  He  must  give  way  to  him.  He 
must  participate  in  his  joy.  Why,  since  he  had 
seen  Margaret,  he  could  not  fail  to  admire  her, 
to  love  her. 

Such  is  love's  way.  It  changes  everything  in 
its  alembic  and  leaves  only  love. 

When  Bruce  arrived  at  home,  he  found,  as  he 
expected,  that  his  father  was  not  there.  The 
Major  had  gone  to  the  court-house,  some  twenty- 
five  miles  away,  to  appear  before  the  grand 
jury.  He  had  determined  to  have  the  jury  pre- 
sent Pokeberry,  and,  perhaps,  the  other  rioters 
who  had  attacked  Dr.  Browne's  house.  Not 
that  the  old  creature  ought  not  to  be  driven  out, 

243 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

he  explained,  but  that  was  not  the  way  to  do  it. 
Perhaps,  he  might  present  him,  too.  But  he 
would  not  have  a  gang  of  drunken  blackguards 
trespassing  on  private  property,  and  attacking 
a  man  in  his  own  house.  It  was  an  outrage  on 
the  Commonwealth.  Besides,  he  would  no 
longer  submit  to  such  a  scoundrel  as  Pokeberry 
going  unwhipped  of  justice. 

After  all,  deep  down  in  his  heart  was  the  fear 
that  the  ruffian  might  do  Bruce  an  injury.  He 
knew  how,  even  from  Bruce 's  boyhood,  there 
had  been  a  mortal  hatred  between  them;  and, 
of  course,  since  Bruce  had  foiled  him  in  his 
attack  on  Dr.  Browne,  the  ruffian  had  a  new 
grudge  against  him,  and  the  boy  was  always  go- 
ing where  the  scoundrel  might  easily  waylay 
him.  If  anything  should  happen  to  Bruce,  what 
should  he  do?  The  thought  made  him  tremble. 
Under  all  his  sternness,  he  loved  his  son  passion- 
ately. He  was  his  pride,  his  idol. 

He  did  not  return  until  the  following  after- 
noon. He  was  in  high  good  humor. 

Just  after  his  arrival,  Bruce  found  him  in  the 
library.  He  greeted  him  pleasantly. 

"Come  in.  Well,  sir,  I  have  at  last  set  the 
law  in  motion,  and  I  think  we  shall  be  rid  of  that 
ruffian  Pokeberry  for  a  little  while  at  least/'  he 

244 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

began.  "Hall  will  have  him  by  to-morrow 
night  unless  he  skips  the  country." 

Bruce,  however,  was  too  impatient  to  delay 
longer  the  subject  which  engrossed  his  thoughts. 
He  merely  acknowledged  the  speech  with  a  bow, 
and  at  once  demanded  a  release  of  the  promise 
the  old  gentleman  had  obtained  from  Miss  Reid. 
In  a  moment  there  was  an  explosion.  The  seren- 
ity in  which  the  Major  returned  after  having 
accomplished  his  purpose  at  the  court-house 
gave  way  to  a  passion  of  anger,  and  he  raged 
over  Bruce 's  revolt. 

He  positively  refused.  The  young  man,  how- 
ever, sobered  by  his  love  for  Margaret,  or  by 
the  gravity  of  the  step  he  was  taking,  remained 
cool,  and  firmly  demanded  the  release. 

' '  May  I  ask,  sir,  what  you  propose  to  support 
this  young  woman  on?"  inquired  the  Major, 
with  an  exasperating  manner. 

"Indeed,  sir,  I  have  not  considered  that  mat- 
ter," replied  Bruce,  disdainfully.  "It  is  one 
which  I  think  only  concerns  her  and  me." 

"It  concerns  you  rather  closely.  I  think  you 
had  better  consider  it.  You  are  not  counting,  I 
hope,  on  my  generosity." 

"I  never  count  on  your  generosity,"  replied 
the  young  man,  with  a  serenity  which  stung  the 

245 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

Major.     "I  might  count  on  your  charity;  but 
never  on  your  generosity. " 

"You  are  presuming  on  my  charity  now," 
said  the  Major,  sternly. 

"When  I  found  that  you  had  taken  the  trouble 
to  go,  before  I  had  even  declared  my  love  for 
the  young  lady,"  said  Bruce,  "and  had  exacted 
a  promise  from  her  to  reject  my  addresses  when 
they  should  be  made,  I  could  do  no  less  than  ar- 
range to  have  her  released,  so  that  at  least  she 
might  be  free  to  act ;  and  I  thought  it  would  be 
indelicate  to  discuss  any  other  matters.  As  you 
secured  from  her  a  rejection  of  me  when  I  was 
the  prospective  heir  to  your  opulence,  I  hardly 
imagine  the  loss  of  that  honor  will  add  greatly 
to  the  danger  of  my  refusal." 

"Bruce,"  said  the  Major,  making  an  effort 
to  remain  cool,  "consider  carefully  what  you 
are  doing.  If  you  marry  that  young  woman—  " 
He  paused  under  the  stress  of  his  feelings.  "If 
you  but  ask  her  to  marry  you—"  He  paused 
again,  unwilling  to  complete  the  threat;  for 
Bruce  straightened  himself,  and  looked  him  full 
in  the  eyes. 

"I  have  asked  her  to  marry  me,"  he  said;  "I 
love  her,  and  I  will  marry  her  against  both 
heaven  and  hell." 

246 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEK 

He  suddenly  broke  out,  and  passionately  de- 
manded a  release  of  the  promise  she  had  given. 

The  Major  rose  from  his  chair. 

"Take  it,  and  convey  it  to  her  with  my  com- 
pliments, ' '  he  said,  standing  straight  and  white, 
waving  his  hand  to  the  door.  "And  marry  her, 
and  sink  down  to  her  level,  a  shame  and  disgrace 
to  your  name.  Leave  the  house,  and,  after  you 
marry  that  woman,  never  come  into  my  pres- 
ence again. " 

Bruce's  breast  heaved.  His  face  was  deadly 
white,  and  his  hands  were  clenched. 

"No  other  man  on  God's  earth  should  speak 
to  me  so  and  live.  I  accept  your  release  and 
your  condition,'1  he  said  almost  quietly,  look- 
ing his  father  fearlessly  in  the  face.  Then  he 
turned  and  went  out. 

It  was  late  when  Bruce  reached  the  old  spring 
where  he  was  to  meet  Margaret.  The  deep 
quietude  of  the  summer  afternoon  filled  the 
woods.  Bruce  dropped  down  at  the  foot  of  the 
old  poplar,  and  leaned  back  against  it  as  he  had 
done  so  often  before.  He  was  waiting  for  Mar- 
garet—his Margaret. 

A  deep  happiness  filled  his  breast,  driving 
out  all  thought  of  the  stormy  scene  with  his 
father.  The  pain  it  caused  him  had  passed 

247 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

away.  Perhaps,  his  mother  could  help  him;  at 
least,  she  would  never  forsake  him.  However 
thoughts  of  them  might  recur  hereafter,  there 
was  no  place  for  them  in  his  heart  now.  His 
memory  was  too  full  of  Margaret— Margaret 
who  belonged  to  him— Margaret  who  was  his 
life.  As  he  half  sat,  half  inclined,  on  the  ground, 
with  the  back  of  his  head  against  the  tree-trunk, 
he  thought  of  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  her. 
It  was  on  that  very  spot.  He  had  opened  his 
eyes,  and  she  had  sat  by  his  side.  There  was  the 
sky  he  remembered  as  he  dropped  off  to  sleep ; 
there  were  the  same  soft  sounds,  the  woodwren 
in  the  alders  below,  the  call  of  the  ploughmen 
across  the  pond  to  their  teams;  the  same  cow- 
bells brokenly  chiming  far  up  the  pond.  It  made 
him  drowsy,  and  he  let  his  eyes  close,  and 
thought  of  Margaret.  He  dreamed  he  heard 
Margaret  coming  nearer,  nearer,  and  then— ! 


248 


XX 


LL  day  Margaret  had  gone  about  as  in  a 
dream.  She  seemed  to  have  found  a  new 
world. 

The  sun  was  almost  down  when  she  slipped 
softly  out  of  her  room,  and,  gliding  across  the 
little  space  in  the  rear  of  the  house,  which  was 
still  kept  clear  for  a  yard,  entered  the  wood  by 
the  old  path  which  led  down  to  the  spring.  The 
sun's  rays  came  slanting  through  the  trees.  It 
was  later  than  she  had  supposed.  She  had  not 
intended  to  be  so  late,  but  the  time  had  slipped 
away.  She  had  wanted  to  look— to  look  right, 
and  it  had  taken  longer  than  she  had  thought. 
The  old  dresses  were  hard  to  choose  between, 
and  then  it  took  so  long  to  fix  exactly,  the  one 
she  selected ;  the  little  glass  was  so  small.  And 
now  suppose  any  one  should  see  her!  Mammy 
would  not  matter ;  but  if  her  grandfather  should 
hear  her  and  call?  At  last,  however,  she  was 
safe  within  the  screen  of  the  encircling  woods. 

Had  any  one  seen  her  as  she  passed,  tripping 
249 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

down  along  the  shady  path,  he  would  indeed 
have  been  astonished.  The  dress  that  she  had 
selected  was  an  old  lawn,— an  empire  dress,— 
as  soft  as  feathers,  and  as  light,  faded  by  age 
to  a  tint  which  left  the  rosesprays  just  visible 
like  shadows  of  roses  which  had  once  lain  on  the 
delicate  white.  The  waist  was  short,  and  the 
skirt  loosely  flowing,  showing  the  little  high- 
heeled  slippers,  and  a  hint  of  the  dainty  ankle. 
The  white  throat  and  shapely  neck  showed 
above  the  low  collar.  It  was  the  dress  she  had 
worn  that  night  when  he  was  wounded.  What 
would  he  think  of  her!  She  felt  that  she  knew. 

She  was  startled,  as  she  came  in  sight  of  the 
spring,  to  see  a  man  disappear  in  the  bushes. 
She  was  sure  it  was  that  Pokeberry  Green.  She 
stopped,  but  at  the  same  moment  she  caught 
sight  of  Bruce  lying  on  the  other  side  of  the 
tree,  and  instantly  all  her  fear  disappeared. 
His  presence  filled  every  place  with  safety. 
The  man  had  evidently  seen  him,  and  had  run 
away.  She  stood  still  and  waited,  to  give  who- 
ever it  was  time  to  get  well  out  of  hearing  be- 
fore going  further.  Then  she  tripped  on. 

Bruce  did  not  stir.    Ah!  he  was  asleep. 

She  would  trip  up  and  catch  him,  and  sur- 
prise him.  She  remembered  that  time  so  long 

250 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

ago  when  she  had  found  him  lying  there.  She 
had  kissed  him  then.  A  blush  came  to 
her  cheeks  in  the  evening  light  as  she  remem- 
bered it.  She  would  not  now.  She  would  just 
catch  him  by  putting  her  hands  over  his  eyes. 
She  tripped  up  softly,  keeping  the  tree  between 
them,  and  kneeling  down,  put  her  hands  around 
and  over  his  face. 

Why,  it  was  wet ;  he  was  crying ! 

She  looked. 

Good  God!  he  was  covered  with  blood!  He 
was  dead! 

She  sprang  to  her  feet  with  a  shriek  which 
reached  the  ploughmen  turning  their  slow  mules 
at  the  end  of  the  furrows  the  other  side  of  the 
pond,  and  made  them  stop  and  listen,  and  which 
fell  on  the  ears  of  the  heavy  man  with  the  ugly 
scar  on  his  neck,  hurrying  off  through  the  pines 
with  muttered  oaths,  and  made  him  quicken  his 
pace  to  a  run. 

In  a  flash  she  had  taken  it  in.  *  Pokeberry,  that 
man  she  had  seen,  had  murdered  him.  But  he 
could  not  be  dead.  She  laid  his  head  gently 
down.  She  knew  this  was  the  way  to  do  when 
one  fainted.  She  felt  his  wrist;  tore  open  his 
collar ;  felt  his  heart ;  ran  to  the  spring,  and  dip- 
ping her  handkerchief  in,  ran  back  and  bathed 

251 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

his  white  face,  washing  the  clotted  blood  from  it, 
and  from  his  hair.  There  was  the  place,  a  great, 
ugly  gash  on  the  head,  over  the  eyes,  as  if  he 
had  been  struck  with  a  club  or  a  hammer. 

" Bruce!    Bruce !"  she  called  him. 

No,  he  was  dead. 

She  sat  down  and  took  his  head  in  her  lap. 
She  was  calm  now,  as  calm  as  he  was,  and  he 
was  calm  forever.  He  was  hers  now.  She  bent 
over  and  kissed  him,  thinking  quite  calmly  of 
the  first  time  she  had  kissed  him  when  he  lay 
there.  She  almost  expected  him  to  wake  now  as 
he  had  done  then.  Anyhow,  he  was  hers.  The 
blood  still  flowed  a  little.  She  tore  a  strip  from 
her  dress  and  bound  up  his  head  and  stopped 
the  flow.  Then  she  stood  up.  What  should  she 
do?  Her  grandfather  and  Uncle  Folium  were 
both  crippled  and  unable  to  walk,  and  mammy 
was  away;  gone  after  the  cows. 

The  nearest  place  at  which  she  could  get  help, 
—was— yes,  she  must  go  there.  He  had,  she 
knew,  crossed  in  a  boat.  She  could  carry  him, 
she  felt  so  strong ;  but  that  might  start  the  bleed- 
ing again,  and  he  might  not  be  dead,— please 
God!  he  might  not.  Her  hopes  revived.  She 
felt  his  pulse,  his  heart  again,  and  then  she 
dashed  off. 

252 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

It  was  not  quite  dusk  in  the  great  hall  at  Lan- 
don  Hall.  The  Major  was  striding  up  and  down, 
justifying  himself  to  his  wife  for  his  treatment 
of  Bruce.  He  had,  in  his  anger  and  wounded 
pride,  said  hard  things  about  him,  and  Mrs.  Lan- 
don  had  been  weeping.  He  still  felt  bitter  to- 
wards him,  but  not  so  bitter  as  he  had  felt  at 
first.  He  was,  however,  still  saying  hard  things 
about  him,  for  his  pride  was  sorely  wounded. 
Bruce  had  beaten  him,  had  defied  him,  foiled 
him,  overpowered  him.  No,  he  did  not  care,  and 
he  said  so,  his  anger  again  rising  against  him. 

"No ;  I  don't  care  if  he  never  enters  that  door 
again ;  he  shall  never  enter  it  with  her,  * '  he  was 
saying,  when  there  was  a  sound  outside :  a  sound 
of  hurrying  steps ;  some  one  ran  up  the  gravel 
walk,  sprang  across  the  veranda,  and  seizing 
the  knob,  turned  it  hastily,  first  the  wrong  way 
and  then  the  right ;  the  great  door  flew  open,  and 
an  apparition  faced  him. 

A  young  girl  in  a  light  dress  dabbled  with 
blood,  her  hair  dishevelled,  her  face  deadly 
white,  her  eyes  wild,  her  hands  outstretched 
covered  with  blood,  stood  before  him. 

Mrs.  Landon  gave  a  cry. 

"In  the  name  of  God!  what  is  it?"  exclaimed 
the  Major. 

253 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

' l  He  is  dead !    Murdered ! ' '  she  gasped. 

"Where I    How!    Who!" 

' ' Bruce,— your  son,— murdered  at  the  spring! 
Dead!" 

She  swayed,  as  if  about  to  fall. 

"Good  God!"  The  Major  caught  her  and 
held  her  in  his  arms. 

"Brandy!"  he  called;  "brandy,  quick!"  It 
was  brought  by  Mrs.  Landon,  and  he  poured 
some  down  Margaret's  throat  and  revived  her. 
She  staggered  to  her  feet.  "Come,  quick,  for 
God's  sake!  It  may  not  be  too  late.  Come!" 
She  pulled  him  to  the  door. 

It  was  quite  dark  when  they  reached  him.  He 
was  still  lying  as  Margaret  had  left  him,  out- 
stretched, motionless,  unconscious.  They  car- 
ried him  to  the  old  doctor's,  as  the  nearest  place, 
and  because  Margaret  ordered  it.  She  had 
taken  charge.  Her  grandfather  might  save  him, 
she  said.  Once  more  she  had  become  calm. 

He  was  borne  in  and  laid  in  her  room,  on  her 
bed,  where  he  had  lain  that  night  after  he  was 
wounded. 

She  had  run  forward  and  warned  her  grand- 
father, and  when  the  men  arrived,  they  met 
them,  and  she  led  them  in  in  the  dark.  A  candle 
was  brought. 

254 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

The  old  surgeon  leaned  over  the  body  and  be- 
gan his  examination. 

"Brandy,"  he  said.  Some  one  handed  it  to 
him,  and  he  poured  a  little  between  his  lips. 

"He  is  living,"  he  murmured. 

Margaret  sank  down  on  the  floor  in  a  heap. 

They  picked  her  up,  and  in  a  little  while  she 
revived  and  went  out  of  the  room. 

A  short  time  afterwards  there  was  a  knock 
at  the  outer  door. 

It  was  Mrs.  Landon,  who  had  come  over  on 
horseback,  around  the  head  of  the  pond.  The 
Major  went  to  meet  her.  She  came  in,  her 
face  deadly  white,  and  fell  on  her  knees  silently 
beside  the  bed.  She  looked  at  no  one ;  but,  press- 
ing her  face  against  her  son's  arm,  uttered  a  low 
moaning  sound. 

"There  is  no  fracture,"  said  the  old  surgeon, 
gently. 

She  made  no  answer.  She  only  moved  slightly 
and  placed  her  hand  on  Bruce 's  hair. 

The  doctor  uttered  another  sentence  or  two 
of  encouragement,  and  went  out  to  get  some 
article.  In  a  little  while  Margaret  brought  it  in. 
Major  Landon  had  meantime  stepped  out  of  the 
room,  and  Mrs.  Landon  was  alone  with  her  son. 
She  was  still  on  her  knees  beside  him,  but  she 

255 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

rose  as  Margaret  entered.  Margaret  set  the 
glass  down  and  turned  to  leave.  As  she  did  so 
she  glanced  up.  Mrs.  Landon  was  looking  at 
her,  and  their  eyes  met.  The  girl's  eyes  fell, 
and  she  stood  still  with  her  head  bowed  humbly. 

"I  know  all,"  said  Mrs.  Landon,  gently. 

At  the  sound  of  her  low  voice  Margaret  caught 
her  hand,  and,  raising  it,  kissed  it.  It  was  an 
act  of  obeisance  to  his  mother.  She  looked  up, 
and  in  an  instant  the  two  women  were  in  each 
other's  arms. 

It  was  an  hour  afterwards  when  the  old  Doc- 
tor left  Bruce 's  side  again  and  went  to  his  own 
room.  Margaret  followed  him.  A  moment  later 
the  door  opened,  and  the  Major  entered  without 
warning. 

The  old  man  turned  to  him.  It  was  the  first 
time  he  had  faced  him.  He  was  dressed  in  an 
old  wrapper,  and  wore  a  black  skull-cap,  from 
under  which  his  long  white  hair  fell  down  to  his 
shoulders.  He  raised  his  head  as  the  Major  en- 
tered, and  gave  him  an  almost  fierce  look  from 
his  piercing  eyes. 

"In  God's  name  who  are  you?"  demanded  the 
Major. 

The  old  man  half  turned  away. 

"What  is  that  to  you?"  he  said,  in  his  deep 
256 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

voice.  "Have  I  ever  wronged  you?  ever  inter- 
fered with  you?  ever  asked  of  you  a  favor?  ever 
demanded  of  you  a  right?  Let  me  alone.  Go 
back  to  your  son.  He  will  get  well.  Take  him 
home  when  he  is  well  enough,  and  keep  him 
there. ' '  He  turned  his  back. 

"No,"  said  the  Major,  who  had  never  taken 
his  eyes  from  his  face.  '  '  By  — !  you  shall  tell 
me  who  you  are."  He  caught  him  by  the  arm 
almost  fiercely,  and  turned  him  to  the  light. 

"What  is  your  name?" 

"I  have  no  name ;  my  name  is  dead,"  said  the 
old  surgeon,  with  emotion.  He  moved  away, 
then  suddenly  turned  back  and,  catching  Mar- 
garet who,  with  wide  eyes  was  standing  near 
him,  her  burning  gaze  on  his  face,  he  pulled  her 
forward. 

"I  have  no  name;  I  am  no  one;  but  this  child 
has  a  name  and  blood  as  good  as  yours,  Major 
Landon.  She  is  Charles  Landon's  great-grand- 
daughter." He  put  her  half  before  him. 

"Good  God!"  exclaimed  the  Major. 

He  sprang  forward  and  took  the  old  surgeon 
in  his  arms.  He  embraced  him  almost  fiercely 
again  and  again. 

* '  Brother ! "  he  said,  with  deep  emotion.  ' '  My 
brother,  my  dear  brother,  my  own  brother!" 

257 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

His  voice  sounded  like  a  caress.  He  released 
him  and  caught  him  again,  saying, 

"My  dear,  dear  "brother !" 

Both  men  were  weeping.  The  old  Doctor  was 
completely  overcome.  His  head  sank,  and  his 
sobs  were  audible.  Presently  the  Major  let  him 
go. 

Margaret  was  standing  by,  deeply  moved. 
She  stepped  to  her  grandfather's  side. 

"Oh,  grandfather!"  she  said,  putting  her 
arms  about  him. 

When  she  let  him  go,  the  Major  turned  to  her 
with  grave  courtesy,— almost  humility. 

"I  do  not  ask  your  pardon, "  he  said.  He 
took  her  hand,  and,  raising  it,  kissed  it.  It  was 
an  act  of  homage  such  as  he  had  never  before 
in  all  his  life  paid  any  other  woman  but  his  wife. 
"But  I  ask  your  leave  to  thank  you  for  my  son's 
life.  I  owe  you  everything.  He  and  all  I  have 
are  yours.  I  only  ask  that  you  will  believe  that 
I  loved  him  better  than  all  the  world.  He  is 
wiser  than  I.  I  owe  you  his  life." 

Margaret  flung  herself  into  his  arms  and  wept 
on  his  shoulder. 

"I  loved  him  so,"  she  sobbed. 

"He  loved  you  also,"  he  said,  soothing  her 
tenderly. 

258 


XXI 

WHILST  Bruce  was  lying  thus  unconscious 
between  life  and  death,  his  would-be 
murderer  was  fleeing  for  his  life.  His  attack  on 
Bruce  had  put  the  neighborhood  in  a  turmoil. 
Never  had  there  been  such  excitement  on  New- 
found. A  hue  and  cry  had  been  raised,  and  the 
whole  district  was  out  scouring  the  country  for 
the  murderer.  Sam  Mills  took  his  old,  long  gun 
from  the  forks  over  his  door,  and  without  more 
than  a  word  or  two,  but  with  an  ugly  glitter  in 
his  eyes,  struck  out  for  the  woods.  Squire  John- 
son, his  old  opposition  and  pomposity  alike  for- 
gotten, had  issued  the  warrant,  and  forthwith 
joined  in  the  chase.  Little  Hall,  forgetting  his 
official  formula  about  "the  posse, "  enlisted  the 
men,  as  he  galloped  from  house  to  house,  by  sim- 
ply calling  to  them  ' '  to  git  their  guns  and  come 
on  with  me  and  Sam;  Pokeberry  's  done  mur- 
dered that  boy,  Bruce  Landon." 

It  was  a  sympathetic  people,  slow  to  catch; 
but  when  ignited,  going  up  altogether  like  pow- 

259 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

der.  The  fire  lighted  had  become  a  con- 
flagration. 

The  whole  country  was  out,  and  the  general 
sentiment  was  that  when  the  murderer  should 
be  caught,  it  would  be  useless  to  wait  for  a  trial ; 
a  simple  waste  of  time.  Indeed,  in  every  squad 
of  men,  one,  at  least,  had  a  "  plough-line  "  hang- 
ing on  his  arm,  ready  for  use. 

The  neighborhood  was  scoured. 

Yet,  after  twenty-four  hours,  no  trace  of  him 
had  been  found.  Many  thought  he  had  escaped 
and  gone  off  "back  up  whar  he  come  from. ' '  He 
had  been  saying,  for  some  time,  he  was  going  to 
do  so.  The  miserable  cabin  where  he  had  lived 
was  deserted,  and  the  two  little  hounds  were 
found  inside;  one  dead  on  the  floor,  with  its 
brains  dashed  out,  the  other,  with  an  ugly  gash 
in  its  head,  where  it  had  evidently  been  struck 
with  the  same  intent.  This  was  regarded  as 
positive  proof  that  Pokeberry  had  fled  the  coun- 
try ;  and  when  the  roads  had  been  picketed  and 
the  woods  scoured  for  twenty-four  hours,  many 
of  the  pursuers  gave  up  and  returned  home. 
Little  Hall,  however,  with  the  sheriffalty  in  his 
eye,  and  with  a  yet  larger  number,  continued  the 
search,  though  without  success,  and  on  the  after- 

260 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

noon  of  the  second  day,  he  and  a  party  were 
standing  in  the  little  yard  in  front  of  Poke- 
berry's  cabin,  discussing  the  futility  of  further 
search.  Dick  Runaway  was  among  them,  listen- 
ing anxiously.  The  little  hound,  which  had  es- 
caped Pokeberry  's  murderous  hand,  slid  timidly 
out  from  under  the  house  and  became  an  object 
of  interest. 

'  '  He  might  'a '  left  them  po '  dawgs, ' '  said  one, 
"seein'  he  made  his  livin'  by  'em.  They  never 
done  him  no  harm,  anyways." 

"It  's  a  d— d  mean  man  as  kills  a  dawg,"  de- 
clared Sam  Mills. 

"An'  his  own  dawg,  too." 

"Any  dawg,"  said  Mills. 

All  assented  to  this  proposition.  Killing  a 
dog  was  regarded  as  quite  as  unpardonable  as 
murdering  a  man.  The  poor  little  beast,  mean- 
time, with  his  tail  between  his  legs,  circled 
around  the  group  and  singled  out  the  negro.  He 
recognized  in  Dick  an  old  friend,  and  almost 
wagged  his  tail  at  him.  Dick  stooped  down  and 
began  to  examine  his  wound,  which  became  the 
general  subject  of  discussion.  This  again 
aroused  the  feeling  against  Pokeberry,  and  re- 
sulted in  a  determination  to  make  another  effort 

261 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

to  catch,  the  murderer.  A  man  who  would  treat 
his  own  dog  that  way  was  too  dangerous  to  let 
escape. 

The  group  went  off  again,  leaving  Hall,  who 
was  completely  broken  down,  and  another  man 
to  watch  the  house,  in  case  Pokeberry  should  by 
any  chance  come  back  there.  It  was  then  about 
dusk. 

Dick  set  out  towards  home,  the  maimed  little 
hound  following  him.  As  he  walked  along,  the 
negro  appeared  in  deep  thought.  Every  now 
and  then  he  stopped  and  muttered  to  himself, 
and  several  times  he  stooped  and  petted  the  lit- 
tle animal  at  his  heels,  which  dumbly  responded. 
At  last  he  stopped  where  a  narrow  path  ran  off 
at  right  angles  to  the  one  he  was  in. 

"Done  kill  Marse  Bruce,  and  mos'  kill  you, 
and  warn  sell  me  down  to  Souf  Cyarliny,"  he 
muttered,  as  he  stooped  over  the  little  creature. 
He  stood  up  presently,  and  peered  down  the 
narrow  path  earnestly. 

"Heah,  come  'long,"  he  said  suddenly.  "I 
boun'  he  down  this  way,"  and  plunged  down  the 
path  through  the  woods. 

An  hour  later  he  was  in  the  well-known  terri- 
tory of  Landon  Hill. 

One  seeing  him  threading  the  narrow  cow- 
262 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

tracks  would  have  supposed  he  was  coon  or  'pos- 
sum hunting.  The  hound  was  in  front,  sniffing 
about,  and  several  times  started  off.  At  last 
Dick  took  a  stout  cord,  which  was  wrapped  sev- 
eral times  around  his  waist,  and  tied  one  end 
around  the  dog's  neck,  so  as  to  control  him.  The 
waning  moon  rose  late  in  the  night,  and  let  an 
uncertain  and  ghostly  light  fall  through  the 
trees. 

All  night  long  Dick  remained  in  the  woods, 
slowly  threading  path  after  path,  penetrating 
the  densest  thickets  on  Newfound.  The  hound, 
now  thoroughly  interested,  several  times  started 
off  as  if  on  a  trail ;  but  Dick  pulled  him  up,  and 
led  him  elsewhere. 

"Dis  ain'  no  'possum  hunt,  you  ole  fool,"  he 
said,  under  his  breath;  " you  know  you  ain'  no 
'possum  dawg." 

It  was  towards  morning  that,  deep  down  in 
the  pines  on  the  bank  of  Newfound,  the  dog 
struck  a  trail  which  the  negro  let  him  follow. 
When  he  first  came  on  it,  his  manner  changed. 
Dick  was  about  to  draw  him  away ;  but  the  dog 
pulled  so,  that  finally  he  let  him  go  on.  The 
trail  went  straight  towards  the  river.  At  last, 
in  a  little  patch  of  pale  moonlight,  Dick  stooped 
and  closely  examined  the  ground. 

263 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

A  man's  track,  almost  fresh,  showed  in  the 
soft  earth. 

"Ah!  heah  he!  de  black,  nigger-ketchin' 
devil ! ' '  he  muttered. 

Dick  peered  anxiously  through  the  bushes. 
The  dog,  with  his  nose  to  the  ground,  pulled  on 
the  cord. 

Dick  paused. 

"Dat  man  got  meanness  in  him,"  he  mut- 
tered to  himself. 

Suddenly  he  turned,  and,  pulling  the  dog  after 
him,  started  back.  He  talked  to  the  little  beast 
reassuringly  as  he  walked  along.  * '  I  know  whar 
he  is  now;  you  need  n'  be  feared,  we  gwine  ketch 
him.  He  ain'  gwine  nowhar  b'fo'  we  git  back. 
I  jes'  gwine  for  help.  I  knowed  he  was  down 
dyah,"  he  concluded  triumphantly. 

In  a  little  while  he  was  in  sight  of  the  little, 
mean-looking  shanty  where  Pokeberry  had 
lived.  He  reconnoitred  the  space  before  him 
and,  stooping,  approached  cautiously;  for  he 
knew  the  two  men  were  on  watch,  and  they  might 
mistake  him  for  the  occupant. 

His  precaution  was,  however,  unnecessary; 
for,  when  he  crept  up  to  the  door,  both  men 
were  fast  asleep  on  the  floor. 

Hall,  who  had  been  up  all  the  night  before,  had 
264 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

set  the  other  man  as  his  subordinate,  on  guard 
for  the  first  watch,  and  had  pulled  off  his  heavy 
boots  and  gone  regularly  to  sleep ;  and  the  guard 
had  duly  followed  suit,  with  an  easy  conscience, 
after  a  short  interval. 

The  negro  stole  up  to  the  constable  and 
touched  him. 

"Mr.  Hall!" 

There  was  no  response.    Then  he  shook  him. 

"Mr.  Hall!    Marse  Jim!" 

At  the  second  or  third  shaking,  Hall  sprang 
up,  and,  still  half  asleep,  seized  his  gun. 

"  'T  ain?  nobody  but  me,  Marse  Jim,— Dick, 
—Major  Landon's  Dick,"  said  the  negro. 

i  i  Oh !  I  thought  't  was  that  scoundrel  Poke- 
berry,"  said  the  little  officer,  in  a  disappointed 
tone.  "I  dreamt  he  was  comin'  up  the  path." 

"Nor,  suh;  but  I  done  fine  him,"  said  the 
negro. 

In  a  second  the  little  constable  was  wide 
awake.  He  began  to  pull  on  his  boots  vigor- 
ously. His  first  impulse  was  to  get  a  posse ;  but 
as  he  got  on  his  boots,  his  courage  increased. 
The  glory  of  catching  the  murderer  alone 
dawned  on  him.  The  sheriffalty— the  goal  of 
his  highest  ambition— suddenly  loomed  up  in 
sight. 

265 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

The  sound  slumber  of  his  companion  who,  with 
his  head  on  his  arm,  and  his  month  wide  open, 
slept  peacefully  on  even  through  the  noise  of 
Hall's  stamping  in  getting  on  his  boots,  re- 
mained unbroken. 

' '  Come  on ;  me  an '  you  can  ketch  him, ' '  said 
the  constable  to  the  negro,  picking  up  his  gun. 
A  loud  snort  from  his  friend  caught  his  ear.  He 
gave  him  a  look  of  contempt. 

"He  's  a of  a  guard,"  he  said;  "ain'  he! 

Pokeberry  could  have  come  and  knocked  both 
our  brains  out  like  he  done  that  boy's.  Come 
along. ' ' 

He  picked  up  a  rope  which  lay  on  the  floor, 
and  gave  it  to  the  negro. 

Dick  was  not  afraid.  He  possessed  plenty  of 
physical  courage.  All  he  wanted  was  the  lead- 
ership— the  moral  support  of  a  white  man.  His 
face  now  looked  eager  enough,  as,  calling  the 
little  hound,  the  two  men  disappeared  down  the 
path  in  the  pines. 

It  was  just  daybreak,  when,  deep  down  in  the 
marsh,  the  dog  suddenly  stopped,  and  raising 
his  head,  gave  a  low  growl,  his  tail  dropping, 
and  every  hair  on  his  thin  back  rising. 

"Ah!"  said  the  negro,  under  his  breath,  seiz- 
ing him.  '  '  Don '  you  bark. ' ' 

266 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

Hall  cocked  Ms  gun. 

They  held  a  little  whispered  consultation,  and 
then  the  negro  crept  forward,  Hall  following  at 
his  heels  with  his  gun  ready.  Reaching  a  heavy 
clump  of  bushes,  Dick  parted  them  and  peeped 
through.  When  he  turned,  his  eyes  were  almost 
popping  out  of  his  head.  He  pointed  silently 
for  Hall  to  look. 

Ten  feet  ahead,  on  the  ground,  under  a  tree, 
lay  a  heavy  man  fast  asleep  on  his  back.  The 
breast  of  his  coarse  dirty  shirt  was  open,  and 
his  thick  red  neck  showed  the  deep  purple  mark 
of  Pokeberry.  An  empty  whiskey-flask  was 
near  him.  A  gun  lay  beside  him,  and  the  handle 
of  an  ugly  knife  peeped  out  from  his  belt.  An- 
other consultation  was  held,  and  then  Dick,  tak- 
ing the  rope,  and  making  a  large  running  knot, 
crept  forward,  whilst  Hall  brought  his  gun  half 
up,  ready  for  use  if  it  were  needed.  Carefully 
placing  the  open  large  loop  around  one  of 
the  sleeper's  hands,  which  was  raised  from  the 
ground  and  enabled  him  to  adjust  it,  Dick  sud- 
denly jerked  it  tight.  The  murderer,  with  an 
oath,  sprang  up  into  a  sitting  posture.  As  he 
did  so,  the  negro  gave  a  turn  of  his  rope  around 
his  other  hand,  and  then,  with  a  dexterous  twist, 
wrapped  it  around  his  neck,  and  pulled  it  taut. 

267 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

Pokeberry  lost  a  second  trying  to  get  at  his 
knife,  in  which  Dick  gave  another  turn  of  the 
rope  around  his  neck,  and  got  his  hands  to- 
gether. Pokeberry  rose,  but  the  negro  flung 
himself  on  him.  Even  then  it  was  a  terrible 
struggle,  and  the  clothes  of  the  two  men  as  they 
wrestled  and  rolled  were  torn  to  shreds. 

Little  HalPs  gun  was  useless;  for  he  could 
not  shoot  one  without  danger  of  shooting  the 
other.  He,  however,  jumped  around  and  en- 
couraged Dick  with  many  oaths,  standing  ready 
to  aid  him  if  it  should  become  necessary.  It  did 
not  become  necessary;  for  the  liquor  in  Poke- 
berry's  brain,  and  the  tangle  of  cord  around 
his  wrists  and  neck  decided  the  contest,  and 
Dick  finally  had  the  murderer  bound  and  sub- 
dued. His  struggles  but  tightened  the  cords 
around  his  throat. 

"Loosen  this  rope,  for  God's  sake!"  he  gur- 
gled. "I  'm  chokin'  to  death."  His  eyes,  in  fact, 
looked  as  if  he  were  speaking  the  truth. 

"You  'member  dat  time  you  tied  me,  don't 
you?  I  got  you  now  whar  I  want  you.  Wait 
till  marster  and  them  white  mens  gits  hold  of 
you,"  said  Dick,  "an'  you  '11  have  a  tighter 
rope  'n  that  roun'  you'  neck." 

268 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

He,  however,  relieved  the  cord  a  little.  This 
suggestion  had  its  effect  on  the  ruffian. 

"What  they  goin'  to  do  with  me?"  he  asked. 
"Try  me?"  " 

"Hang  you." 

His  jaws  dropped.    "When?" 

"Dee  got  rope  waitin'  fer  you  now,"  said 
Dick. 

The  ruffian 's  red  face  turned  deadly  white. 

" I  did  n 't  do  it, ' '  he  said.    ' ' I  swear—" 

"Yes,  you  did.  Git  up  heah;  I  gwine  carry 
you  to  him  right  now." 

They  lifted  the  fellow ;  but  he  dropped  down 
again. 

' i  Look  here, ' '  he  said ;  "  if  you  all  will  let  me 
get  away,  I  '11 — I  '11  give  you  anything  in  the 
world." 

Hall  laughed  derisively. 

"Get  up,  and  come  on." 

"I  would  n'  let  you  git  'way,"  said  Dick,  "not 
fer  marster's  big  plantation  an'  ev'ry  mule  on 
it.  Git  up  heah!" 

The  two  men  jerked  at  the  rope  till  the  brute, 
half  strangled,  agreed  to  come. 

The  'twenty  or  more  men  assembled  at  the 
Crossroads  that  morning  were  a  sleepy  and  de- 
jected-looking set.  Their  search  had  failed ;  the 

269 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

murderer  had  escaped.  Little  Hall's  chance 
of  the  Sheriffalty,  never  very  great,  had  van- 
ished with  him;  and  the  coveted  office  would 
certainly  go  to  the  lower  end  of  the  County. 
Suddenly  one  of  the  group  swore  a  great  oath 
and  pointed  up  the  road.  There  came  three 
men,  the  foremost  with  his  hands  and  arms  tied 
to  his  body,  and  behind  him,  Hall  and  Dick 
Eunaway,  walking  like  soldiers,  with  guns  on 
their  shoulders.  A  little  hound  trotted  at 
Dick's  heel.  The  crowd  was  instantly  in  a  com- 
motion. They  streamed  down  the  road  to  meet 
the  captors  and  their  prisoner. 

Pokeberry  was  taken  from  the  two,  who  were 
swept  from  their  feet,  and  in  a  minute  a  rope 
was  around  his  neck.  He  recognized  his  peril. 
His  face  was  deadly  white,  and  he  began  to  plead. 
His  pleading,  however,  was  cut  short.  The  mob 
was  in  no  humor  for  mercy.  He  was  dragged 
along  to  the  Crossroads,  where  a  brief  stop  was 
made,  and  was  tied  to  a  tree,  whilst  a  consulta- 
tion was  held.  It  was  determined  to  lynch  him 
immediately.  The  crowd  again  surrounded 
him.  One  or  two  of  them  told  him  to  pray.  The 
poor  wretch  broke  forth  into  cries.  But  the 
mob  was  pitiless.  It  contained  a  number  who 
had  been  his  boon  companions.  His  many 

270 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

offences  were  enumerated,  the  attack  on  Dr. 
Browne  being  one  of  them. 

"Jim,  you  are  the  constable;  you  ought  to 
protect  me,"  he  said  to  Hall. 

'  '  Protect  you !  I  'm  going  to  hang  you, ' '  said 
Hall. 

At  this  moment,  a  remark  from  Dick  unex- 
pectedly intervened  and  saved  him. 

The  negro  was  most  eager  to  have  him  die, 
but  suggested  that,  maybe,  his  master  would  like 
to  see  him  hanged.  This  opened  a  discussion; 
and  by  one  of  the  freaks  which  frequently  oper- 
ate on  a  mob,  it  turned  the  scale,  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  put  the  question  to  a  vote,  whether  he 
should  or  should  not  be  hanged  till  the  Major 
could  see  him. 

It  was  decided  by  a  small  majority  that  the 
hanging  should  be  put  off,  as  it  could  be  at  most 
for  only  a  few  hours. 

The  prisoner  was  locked  up  in  a  little  out- 
house on  the  premises,  with  guards  over  him. 
During  the  day,  hundreds  of  people  flocked  to 
the  place,  and  the  little  groggery  did  the  largest 
business  ever  known,  at  least  in  whiskey.  The 
guards  furnished  their  part  of  the  patronage, 
and  exhibited  the  prisoner  as  if  he  had  been  a 
show. 

271 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

By  nightfall  they  were  all  in  liquor,  and  were 
drinking  heavily.  Hospitality  demanded  that 
even  a  murderer  should  be  treated  properly  in 
this  respect,  standing,  as  it  were,  somewhat  in 
the  room  of  a  guest.  Pokeberry  had  been  furn- 
ished all  the  liquor  he  wanted.  This  was  a  great 
deal.  He  called  for  it  frequently.  At  dark  he 
was  apparently  drunk.  His  guards  were  cer- 
tainly so. 

The  next  morning,  at  daylight,  the  prisoner 
was  gone.  No  one  could  tell  how;  and  as  there 
had  been  a  heavy  thunder-storm  in  the  night, 
there  was  small  chance  of  tracking  him.  The 
guards  were  too  steeped  in  liquor  and  over- 
whelmed with  confusion  to  give  any  coherent 
account.  He  had  actually  taken  their  guns  with 
him.  He  had  been  there  at  two  o  'clock.  One  of 
them  had  taken  a  last  drink  with  him.  There 
was  a  great  commotion.  The  guards  were  uni- 
versally cursed  and  derided,  and  sought  conso- 
lation in  stupor. 

A  hue  and  cry  was  again  raised,  and  the  fugi- 
tive was  hotly  pursued.  Dick  Runaway  and  the 
little  hound,  whose  reputations  were  established, 
were  recognized  as  important  factors  in  the 
chase,  and  were  given  honorable  positions  in 
the  front. 

272 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

The  crowd  struck  for  Newfound.  The  woods 
were  systematically  searched. 

Toward  sunset,  the  track  of  the  fugitive  was 
discovered.  The  hound  had  followed  the  scent 
to  an  old  brush-pile,  deep  in  a  thicket.  The  fugi- 
tive had  evidently  lain  there  concealed.  The 
brush  was  scattered  about,  as  if  he  had  left 
hastily.  The  little  hound  dashed  off  towards  the 
water.  He  was  making  for  the  pond,  and  the 
dense  thickets  on  the  other  side.  The  little 
beast,  thoroughly  interested,  followed  the  trail 
with  the  precision  of  destiny.  It  cut  straight  for 
the  river.  It  was  evidently  warm,  for  he  gave 
mouth,  his  long,  mellow  note  exciting  the  pur- 
suers, who  could  scarcely  keep  up  with  him. 
Once  the  trail  was  lost  for  a  little  while,  where 
the  fugitive  had  waded  in  a  branch ;  but  the  little 
animal  picked  it  up  again,  and  struck  out  confi- 
dently in  the  same  direction. 

At  last,  just  at  sunset,  one  of  the  pursuers 
caught  sight  of  a  figure  on  a  knoll  a  few  hundred 
yards  ahead,  running  with  all  his  speed.  His 
shout  gave  new  ardor  to  the  chase,  and  the 
crowd,  with  loud  cries,  dashed  through  the  bush 
to  head  him  off  from  the  pond. 

It  was,  indeed,  Pokeberry.  All  day  he  had 
lain  concealed,  crouched  under  a  pile  of  brush 

273 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 
in  the  pines,  in  a  spot  which  he  had  found  an 
hour  or  two  after  his  escape.  Newfound  was 
up  a  little,  and  he  could  not  cross  safely  just 
then ;  but  it  would  fall  by  night,  and  he  could  get 
over. 

He  felt  secure,  and,  overcome  with  fatigue 
and  relief,  had  fallen  asleep.  How  long  he 
slept  he  could  not  tell. 

He  was  aroused  suddenly  by  shouts  in  the  dis- 
tance. He  lay  still.  He  was  so  concealed  that 
they  might  pass  within  ten  feet  of  him  and  miss 
him.  But  suddenly  he  started  up,  for  the  note  of 
a  hound,  a  note  well  known,  reached  his  ears. 
A  deep  oath  fell  from  his  lips,  and  his  face  grew 
deadly  white.  It  was  his  own  dog,  and  he  was 
on  a  warm  trail ;  on  his  track  ?  The  notes  came 
again  clearer.  They  were  nearer;  they  were 
on  his  trail.  Springing  up  with  an  oath,  and 
seizing  his  gun,  he  dashed  through  the  woods. 
If  he  could  get  to  the  head  of  the  pond,  and  reach 
the  other  side,  he  would  be  safe.  The  old  ravines 
and  the  thickets  of  the  swamp  would  conceal 
him  till  night,  when  he  could  steal  away  and 
leave  the  country.  He  could  not  swim,  but  he 
could  cross  the  pond  high  up  by  wading.  He 
had  not  gone  three  hundred  yards,  when,  as  he 
crossed  a  rise,  he  heard  his  dog's  well-known 

274 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

yelp,  yelp,  and  looked  back.  On  the  crest  of  a  hill 
a  few  hundred  yards  behind  him,  he  caught  sight 
of  the  little  beast.  He  was  coming  on  at  a  gal- 
lop, straight  on  his  track,  his  nose  to  the  ground. 
A  short  distance  behind  him  were  half-a-dozen 
men,  Hall  in  the  lead.  They  caught  sight  of 
him  at  the  same  instant,  and  a  fierce  shout  went 
up  from  them.  With  a  great  oath  the  fugitive 
rushed  on.  His  heart  was  thumping  against  his 
ribs,  and  his  face  burned  like  fire.  He  reached 
a  little  creek,  and,  springing  in,  ran  down  it 
through  the  water.  If  he  could  throw  the  dog 
from  the  scent,  he  might  escape.  The  briars 
tore  his  face,  and  the  thorns  stuck  into  his  flesh ; 
but  he  did  not  feel  them.  Life  was  before,  death 
was  behind  him.  He  clamored  out,  and  rushed 
on.  A  vine  caught  him  and  threw  him  to  the 
ground;  a  sharp  pain  shot  through  his  ankle; 
but  he  scrambled  up,  and  fled,  limping  on 
through  the  thickets.  The  water  came  in  sight 
through  the  bushes  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  he  was 
descending.  Perhaps  the  hound  had  been 
thrown  from  the  scent,  and  he  was  safe.  He 
wanted  but  ten  minutes.  He  breathed  freer,  and 
paused  to  listen.  Suddenly,  however,  his  hopes 
were  dashed  to  the  ground ;  for  close  behind  him 
he  heard  a  noise,  and,  turning,  there  was  the 

275 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

dog.  A  fearful  oath  escaped  him.  But  hope 
suddenly  rose  again.  He  would  take  him  with 
him.  He  could  drown  him  in  the  pond.  He 
turned  and  called  him  in  a  low  voice, 

"Heah — heah!    Come  heah,  you  d — d  fool!" 

The  dog  stopped  and  growled. 

He  took  a  few  steps  back  towards  him. 

1 1  Come  heah !    Don '  you  heah  me  1 ' ' 

The  little  beast,  with  the  timidity  of  his  nature 
intensified,  suddenly  turned,  and,  tucking  his 
tail  between  his  legs,  retreated  some  twenty 
yards,  and,  half  turning  around,  gave  a  loud 
angry  bark.  A  shout  answered  back  in  the 
woods. 

With  an  oath  Pokeberry  raised  and  cocked 
his  gun,  and  brought  it  up  to  his  shoulder.  The 
little  wretch,  at  the  threatening  motion,  started 
to  flee.  There  was  a  loud  report.  With  a  yelp 
the  dog  rolled  over  in  the  bushes,  stone-dead. 

The  living  brute  fled  on  again. 

In  a  few  moments  he  was  at  the  water's  edge, 
wading  through  the  alders  which  grew  in  the 
shallows.  They  were  deeper  than  he  had  ever 
seen  them.  He  emerged  from  the  bushes.  Only 
a  dozen  yards  away  was  the  other  bank  covered 
with  a  dense  and  almost  impenetrable  thicket. 
Once  there  he  would  be  safe.  The  pursuers  were 
already  almost  on  him.  He  could  hear  their 

276 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

voices.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  He  could 
not  swim,  but  the  water  before  him  was  smooth. 
He  dashed  in.  and  in  two  steps  went  down  over 
his  head. 

He  came  up  choking  and  struggling,  and 
struck  out  wildly,  only  to  go  down  again.  Ris- 
ing again,  he  beat  the  water  frantically,  and 
again  went  under ;  but  once  more  got  to  the  top. 
His  lungs  were  filled.  He  was  going  down 
again,  sinking,  drowning.  Good  God!  drown- 
ing !  He  was  strangling.  Struggling  to  the  top 
again,  he  gave  a  wild  cry,  "Help,  help!" 

The  water  filled  his  throat,  drawing  him 
down,  and  drowned  his  despairing  shriek. 

The  men  through  the  bushes  only  a  few  yards 
away  heard  the  cry,  wild,  agonized,  and  rushed 
into  the  alder  thickets,  through  the  water. 
Parting  the  bushes,  they  gazed  across  to  the 
other  bank.  It  lay  calm  and  quiet  in  the  sum- 
mer sunshine.  They  looked  at  the  water  just  be- 
fore them.  On  it,  a  little  way  down,  just  in  the 
current,  floated  an  old  worn  hat.  That  was  all. 

The  waters  of  Newfound  slept  below  as  placid 
as  ever. 

IT  was  late  the  following  afternoon.  Bruce  had 
been  sleeping.  He  had  never  recovered  com- 
plete consciousness;  but  he  was,  his  uncle  said, 

277 


ON  NEWFOUND  RIVER 

"doing  well."  The  Major  and  the  Doctor  were 
sitting  together  on  the  portico,  talking.  It 
seemed  as  if  they  could  not  be  separated  a 
moment.  The  events  of  a  life-time  were  passing 
in  review;  but  mainly  they  dwelt  on  their  boy- 
hood. Mrs.  Landon  was  with  them.  Mar- 
garet had  taken  her  place,  and  was  with  Bruce, 
sitting  beside  his  bed  gently  fanning  him.  No 
one  else  was  in  the  room.  She  was  dressed  in  a 
curious,  rich  old  flowered  silk  with  a  high  collar 
and  quaint  long  waist,  which  she  had  found  in 
one  of  the  old  trunks.  It  was  the  counterpart  of 
that  in  which  Mrs.  Colonel  Landon  had  had  her 
portrait  painted  as  a  bride.  Margaret  looked  in 
it  as  if  she  had  stepped  out  of  the  old  picture 
over  the  piano  at  Landon  Hall.  She  moved 
from  the  bedside,  and  stood  looking  out  of  the 
window.  Her  profile  was  clearly  defined.  It  was 
as  fine  as  a  cameo.  The  setting  sun  threw  its 
golden  rays  upon  her,  and  bathed  her  in  its 
light.  Her  slender  hands  were  clasped,  and  her 
uplifted  pensive  face  wore  a  sweet  gravity. 
Bruce  suddenly  opened  his  eyes.  His  gaze  fell 
directly  on  her.  He  looked  at  her  long  and 
curiously,  without  stirring. 

Presently   he    said    half    aloud    to    himself, 
"That  's  my  great-grandmother." 

278 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

Margaret  started,  then  stepped  softly  to  his 
side.  She  noted  his  improvement,  and  smiled  as 
she  leaned  over  him. 

" Where  am  IT7  asked  Bruce. 

"At  home, ' '  she  said. 

"Am  I?" 

He  glanced  around  the  room;  memory  seemed 
trying  to  reassert  itself. 

"At  home?" 

"Yes.  Don't  talk."  Her  voice  was  soft  and 
soothing. 

"Can't  I  talk?"  he  asked  like  a  child. 

"Not  just  now." 

"Why?" 

' l  Well ;  because  I  tell  you  not  to :  you  belong 
to  me."  She  smiled. 

"Do  I?    Am  I  my  grandfather,  then?" 

She  leaned  over  and  kissed  him  softly. 

"No,  my  darling,  you  are  your  own  self, 
Bruce.  But  you  must  not  talk  now. ' ' 

' '  One  word.    Do  you  belong  to  me  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes;  entirely,  with  all  my  heart." 

i '  All  right ;  kiss  me ;  I  '11  go  to  sleep. ' ' 

A  smile  of  deep  content  came  over  his  face. 

A  FEW  weeks  later  there  was  a  small  party 
assembled,  one  afternoon,  on  the  portico  of  the 

279 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

old  Landon  place,  Landon  Hill.  A  remarkable 
transformation  had  taken  place  in  the  time 
which  had  elapsed,  and  as  two  of  the  men  who 
were  in  the  party  on  the  porch  had  ridden  up, 
they  had  been  discussing  it  in  wondering  under- 
tones. The  old  fields  which  but  a  few  weeks 
since  had  been  thick  with  pines  were  being 
cleared  up;  roads  were  being  made;  fences 
built ;  and  whichever  way  the  eye  turned,  bodies 
of  negroes  were  at  work  cutting,  clearing,  and 
hauling.  Loud  laughter  and  shouts  in  musical 
chorus  came  across  the  fields  from  the  white- 
shirted  workmen,  and  volumes  of  white  and 
blue  smoke  rose  from  the  piles  where  the  brush 
was  being  burned,  and,  floating  away  over  the 
fields,  gave  the  landscape  the  hazy,  mellow  look 
of  Indian  summer. 

"Well,  this  do  beat  everything,"  one  of  the 
men,  the  smaller  of  the  two,  said  to  his  com- 
panion. 

The  speaker  was  Jim  Hall,  just  elected  sheriff, 
and  the  other  was  Sam  Mills,  who,  owing  to  the 
paralysis  of  Squire  Johnson  a  day  or  two  after 
the  pursuit  of  Pokeberry,  had  unexpectedly 
found  himself  elected  to  the  honorable  position 
of  justice  of  the  peace. 

"The  Major's  a  team,"  said  Mills,  slowly,  as 
280 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 

he  took  a  survey  of  the  scene  around  them.  ' ( He 
must  have  half  the  Landon  Hall  niggers  over 
here  clearin'  up." 

"He  's  a  team  at  gittin'  folks  elected.  If  't 
had  n'  been  for  him,  you  an'  I  would  n'  a  beat 
them  lower  een  fellows  so  easy,"  said  Hall. 

"I  'm  glad  the  Major  got  the  old  place  back," 
Mills  said  slowly,  his  mind  working  quietly  in 
the  old  direction.  ' i  He  would  n '  take  a  heap  for 
it." 

"Why,  I  heard  the  old  Doctor  was  goin'  to 
stay  here,  and  that  Bruce  was  goin'  to  stay  with 
him,  now  he  's  married, '  '  said  Hall,  in  surprise. 

Mills  explained: 

"So  he  is.  But  that  's  the  same  thing.  Half 
the  place  and  half  of  all  the  property  belongs 
to  the  old  Doctor  and  the  Major  insisted  on  his 
takin'  it;  but  he  would  n't  do  it  and  the  Major 
made  it  over  to  Bruce  an'  his  wife  as  a  weddin' 
present.  The  Major  offered  him  the  other  place 
if  he  wanted  it.  He  'd  give  him  anything  in  the 
world.  Bruce  havin'  it  is  the  same  as  havin'  it 
himself." 

"He  certainly  ain'  stingy,"  admitted  Hall,  as 
they  rode  into  the  yard.  "The  way  he  looks 
after  the  old  squa'r  shows  that,  if  no  thin'  else 

281 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 

does.    You  know  he  went  up  thar  and  told  Mm 
he  M  keep  him  comfort'ble  long  as  he  lived  1" 

"Yes,  so  I  hearn.  Well,  I  tell  you  what  sort 
of  man  the  Major  is.  He  's  got  a  tongue  of 
flame ;  but  he  's  got  a  heart  in  his  body  as  big 
as  this  wo rP,  and  he  don't  bear  malice — not  a 
minute. ' ' 

They  had  ridden  into  the  yard  and  tied  their 
horses. 

There,  too,  they  found  the  work  of  clearing 
up  performed:  the  hedges  trimmed,  the  yard 
cleaned,  everything  tidy.  Bruce,  who  was 
lounging  on  the  porch  in  an  easy-chair,  beside 
which  sat  a  young  lady,  her  hand  on  his  arm, 
came  forward  to  meet  them.  His  companion 
rose  and  entered  the  house.  He  was  still  pale, 
and  the  bandage  was  not  yet  removed  from  his 
head.  He  greeted  them  cordially,  and  invited 
them  into  the  house.  The  Major  met  them  on 
the  portico.  He  was  followed  by  the  young  lady, 
dressed  in  a  soft  white  robe,  and  with  an  expec- 
tant smile  in  her  soft  brown  eyes,  whom 
he  spoke  of  with  evident  pride  as,  "My  daugh- 
ter, ' '  and  to  whom  he,  in  turn,  presented  each  of 
the  visitors  as,  "My  friend,  Mr.  Sam  Mills," 
and  "My  friend,  Mr.  James  Hall." 

Margaret  shook  hands  with  them  with  a  man- 
282 


ON  NEWFOUND  KIVER 

ner  and  a  smile  which  would  at  once  have  given 
her  a  personal  place  in  their  friendship  even 
had  she  not  long  held  such  a  position.  In  a  little 
while  there  was  a  step,  and  the  old  Doctor  came 
slowly  out  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Landon.  He 
looked  old  enough  to  be  the  Major's  father. 

"Brother,  these  are  our  two  neighbors,  Mr. 
Mills  and  Mr.  Hall,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  to 
you,"  said  the  Major.  His  voice  appeared  to 
the  two  men  to  have  a  new  softness  in  it ;  a  tone 
of  fresh  tenderness. 

"Oh,  I  know  them,"  said  the  old  surgeon. 

*  '  Yes,  we  know  him, ' '  replied  the  two  visitors, 
and  one  of  them  added,  "There  's  many  a  one 
down  on  Newfound  knows  him  too." 

Margaret  slipped  away,  and  presently  re- 
turned, followed  by  two  servants,  each  bearing 
a  large  silver  waiter,  one  with  tea-things  on  it, 
and  the  other  with  fruit.  One  was  the  old 
mammy,  tall,  spare,  dignified;  the  other  was 
Dick  Eunaway. 

"This  is  an  old  friend  of  yours,  I  believe?" 
she  said,  addressing  both  of  the  two  men,  as 
Dick  placed  the  tray  on  a  little  table  before  her. 

Dick's  face  shone  at  the  reference  to  him  from 
his  mistress,  and  a  double  row  of  very  white 
teeth  were  suddenly  displayed. 

283 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEB 

After  a  little  the  two  visitors  stated  their  busi- 
ness. They  wanted  the  Major  to  run  for  gov- 
ernor and  Bruce  for  Congress.  Newfound  would 
stand  by  them.  Squire  Johnson  had  sent  them 
word  he  'd  live  on  purpose  to  vote  for  them. 

The  Major  thanked  them,  but  was  humorously 
inexorable  in  his  refusal.  He  said  he  had  never 
aspired  higher  than  to  be  a  justice  or  a  con- 
stable ;  he  had  aspired  that  high ;  but  there  had 
always  been  better  men  found  to  fill  those  posi- 
tions. ' '  The  fact  is,  I  am  so  constituted  that  if 
a  man  disagrees  with  me  I  think  he  has  insulted 
me,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  that  is  the  best  way 
for  a  statesman  to  feel. ' '  Bruce  might  suit  bet- 
ter. Bruce 's  pretty  wife  looked  proudly  at  him, 
and  rested  a  slender  white  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"All  I  want,"  she  said,  "is  that  my  husband 
may  live  here  among  his  own  people  with  the 
affection  of  such  friends  as  he  has  been  shown 
to  have  these  last  few  weeks  and  that  his 
friends  may  know  him  as  I  know  him." 

"Oh!  I  think  we  know  him  on  Newfound," 
said  the  two  delegates,  beaming  on  him.  "And 
we  know  you  too.  And  if  you  want  anything  on 
Newfound,  all  you  got  to  do  is  to  call  on  us  and 
you  can  get  it." 

As  the  two  men  an  hour  later  rode  away 
284 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVER 
through  the  evening  light,  the  sky  above  was  a 
pale,  soft  blue. 

The  sun  was  just  disappearing  in  a  haze  over 
the  western  woods  that  crowned  the  horizon 
beyond  the  wide  bottom,  through  which,  a  mile 
ahead,  crept  Newfound. 

The  fields  were  quiet  now ;  but  the  rich  voices 
of  laughing  negroes  floated  up  from  the  paths 
by  which  they  wended  their  way  home ;  the  mel- 
lowed clangle  of  cow-bells  sounded  in  the  dis- 
tance, accompanied  by  the  lowing  of  the  cows 
as  they  came  slowly  up  to  their  calves  from  the 
pasture  by  the  pond ;  and  a  single  partridge,  on 
a  stump  a  hundred  yards  away  in  the  field, 
piped  his  three  notes  of  peace  to  his  vagrant 
mate. 

The  two  men,  touched  perhaps  by  the  peace- 
ful scene,  rode  for  a  little  distance  without 
speaking. 

Hall  first  broke  the  silence. 

"Sam,"  he  said,  in  a  low,  mysterious  tone, 
"s'pose  we  run  him  for  governor,  anyways.  We 
can  git  him  elected.  He  11  git  every  vote  on 
Newfound. ' ' 

"I  ?m  for  him  for  president,"  said  Mills. 
"Then  we  'd  have  Miss*  Landon  in  the  White 
House,  and  that  would  be  the  best  yet— only  I 

285 


ON  NEWFOUND  EIVEE 
don'  know  what  we  'd  do  without  her  on  New- 
found/' 

A  homing  dove  passed  close  above  their 
heads  on  the  way  to  its  nest;  a  mocking-bird 
sang  a  brief  good-night  stave  of  happiness  and 
Newfound  settled  down  beneath  the  peaceful 
stars  in  deep  content. 

THE  END 


286 


STORED  AT 


THE  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  SANTA  CRUZ 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  DATE  stamped  below. 


V> 


100m-8,'65(F6282s8)2373 


PS2514.05  1906 


3  2106  00207  8449 


